Germany's car crisis: Can the 35-hour workweek survive?

Germany's car crisis: Will the 35-hour workweek survive?

Germany's famed automotive sector is facing a deep crisis, squeezed by high manufacturing costs, punitive US tariffs , intensifying competition from China and a difficult transition to electric vehicles .

Industry heavyweights such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have announced plans to scale back production and reduce costs.

The branch is shedding jobs faster than any other industrial sector in the country.

Volkswagen, for instance, is looking to cut about 15% of its workforce worldwide, or 100,000 jobs, by the end of the decade. BMW announced it will cut up to 8,000 jobs — about 5% of its workforce — by the end of 2027.

Auto suppliers such as Bosch and ZF Friedrichshafen have also announced thousands of job reductions amid tough market conditions and global competition.

The legacy car industry is in crisis. How can it move on?

Germany's automotive industry is losing competitiveness as costs rise and production shifts abroad, said Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in the German city of Bochum.

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