Germany is positioning itself as the "safe option" to build Australia's new submarine fleet, arguing it avoids upsetting China.
Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems chairman Hans Atzpodien has committed his company to building all 12 submarines in Australia if it gets the nod over Japanese and French bids.
He expects the $20 billion-plus build to create 2000 jobs in South Australia and possibly Western Australia.
An all-Australian build was the best option because it offered the most efficient and lowest-cost approach, Dr Atzpodien said.
There was also a strategic argument for choosing the German bid, especially over Japan.
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"Maybe it is an advantage dealing with us, not to be in a position where you would have to, let's say, decide between certain heavyweights in the Pacific area," Dr Atzpodien told the National Press Club on Thursday.
German ambassador Christoph Müller said his country had the same stake in ensuring there was freedom of navigation of the South China Sea, an area of heightened tension between Beijing and neighbouring countries.
He emphasised European Union countries were on the same page as Australia in wanting rules-based order in the region.
Dr Atzpodien cited other advantages of the German bid including:
* Decades of experience building customised, high-performance conventional submarines for 22 navies world wide.
* Compatibility with US Navy subs.
* Establishment of a shipbuilding centre of excellence in Adelaide.
* Potential to develop a hub in Australia to serve other clients in the wider Pacific region.
Dr Müller hit back at former prime minister Tony Abbott's claim the German and French bids were just about commercial interests, whereas the Japanese pitch was strategic.
"Our national interest relates to something larger - our evolving partnership with Australia ... a strategic partnership between two like-minded countries on two opposites sides of the globe which share key values and certain basic ideas as to how international affairs should be run," he said.
Dr Müller jokingly said the only risk associated with his country's bid was that German engineers and technicians would love Adelaide so much they may never return to the Fatherland.
"It's now or never for Australia to catch the train of 21st century manufacturing," he said.
Dr Atzpodien played down media reports his country's Navy had experienced issues with submarines constructed by Thyssenkrupp.
