<\/p>\n
Tens of thousands of workers across Germany plan to stage protests on Monday, seeking protection for jobs and factories after Volkswagen AG delivered another stark demonstration of the depths of the country\u2019s auto-industry downturn.<\/p>\n
Employees at VW, which\u00a0slashed its profit outlook\u00a0late Friday, as well as Mercedes-Benz Group AG, BMW AG, Audi, Porsche and major suppliers, will take part in demonstrations at more than 280 events nationwide. The powerful\u00a0IG Metall union\u00a0is pressing companies to protect plants and jobs while urging Chancellor Friedrich Merz\u2019s government to lower energy costs and shield domestic production from low-cost imports.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t stand by while a key industry is hollowed out step by step,\u201d Thorsten Gr\u00f6ger, IG Metall\u2019s regional chief for Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, said ahead of the protests. \u201cThe workers didn\u2019t cause the failures of recent years. They shouldn\u2019t now be made to pay the bill for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
VW on Friday cut its operating-margin forecast to no more than 1%, from at least 4% previously, citing worsening conditions in China, restructuring costs and a \u20ac6 billion ($6.9 billion) writedown tied to sportscar maker Porsche AG.<\/p>\n
The warning from Europe\u2019s biggest carmaker underscored the pressures converging on German manufacturers. China, long a lucrative source of growth, is weakening while increasingly formidable Chinese rivals are expanding in Europe. German carmakers are also spending heavily on electrification, grappling with US trade barriers and trying to shrink an expensive domestic production base.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe market changes are profound and lasting,\u201d Volkswagen Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz said after the warning. \u201cWe have no time to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n
The protests also come a day after a pair of regional elections in which Merz\u2019s Christian Democrats\u00a0suffered crushing losses. They were\u00a0defeated\u00a0by the anti-capitalist Left party in Berlin, while in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania they crashed out of a state assembly for the first time in the country\u2019s post-World War II history.<\/p>\n
The results, including more gains for the far-right AfD party, add to the challenges for a government trying to restore Germany\u2019s competitiveness as manufacturers cut jobs and consider factory closures.<\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s storied car industry has shed roughly 100 000 staff since 2019, according to the VDA industry lobby, and more cuts are coming. Volkswagen has laid out plans that could ultimately affect around 100,000 positions globally, BMW is eliminating around 8 000 jobs and Mercedes-Benz is shrinking production in Germany while expanding lower-cost operations in Hungary.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n
CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pain reaches deep into the industry. Automotive suppliers shed about 74 000 jobs between 2019 and 2025, almost a quarter of their workforce, according to the VDA.<\/p>\n
The retrenchment reflects broader challenges to Germany\u2019s industrial model. Manufacturers prospered for decades on relatively cheap energy, open markets and booming demand from China. Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine disrupted energy supplies and growth weakened in China, where local competitors such as BYD Co. emerged with cheaper alternatives to some of Germany\u2019s best-selling models.<\/p>\n
Volkswagen encapsulates many of those pressures. Rich profits from China and premium brands helped support an enormous manufacturing base in Germany and finance investment in new technology. With China\u2019s car market contracting, Chinese manufacturers are pushing lower-priced electric and hybrid cars into Europe. In July, their share across the continent soared to 11%.<\/p>\n
The conflict in the Middle East has added another strain, with gasoline and diesel prices climbing to record levels in Germany this month. Although electric vehicle sales are rising in Europe, they\u2019re often less profitable. The US, meanwhile, has become a tougher market for German carmakers that lack production there \u2014 especially Porsche and Audi \u2014 due to President Donald Trump\u2019s tariff policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cA recovery for VW will have to come through its two premium brands, Porsche and Audi, held back by US tariffs, but above all needing China to stabilize,\u201d Adrien Brasey, an automotive analyst at Alphavalue said by email. \u201cThe read-across for the sector: with such high production overcapacity at home, Chinese carmakers will keep exporting significantly, increasing pricing pressure globally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Merz\u2019s government has responded with a \u20ac500 billion infrastructure fund, investment incentives and measures to lower electricity costs and taxes. But many will take years to feed through \u2014 corporate tax cuts start only in 2028 \u2014 while companies are cutting jobs and shifting investment now.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n
#warning #deepens #German #automakers #gloom #workers #protest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tens of thousands of workers across Germany plan to stage protests on Monday, seeking protection…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[7197,1288,384,21719,2225,856,624],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16562"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16562\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}