German Of The Day: Schicht

April 5, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means shift. As in shift work.

Tesla is reportedly looking to add a fourth production shift at Giga Berlin in Germany to double production in hopes of meeting a manufacturing rate of 500,000 vehicles annually.

Tesla has already ramped up its third shift, which helped the automaker obtain a weekly production volume of 5,000 vehicles per week, it confirmed in late March.

Managing Director Jochem Freyer from the employment agency in Frankfurt confirmed to rbb24 that Tesla has filled all of its openings for the third shift, and now the company is considering a fourth shift, which could help the company double its production output from 5,000 vehicles per week to 10,000.

First We Take Ostelsheim

April 4, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Helections, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Then we take Berlin.

A Syrian who arrived in Germany as a refugee in 2015 has been elected as the mayor of a village in the south-west of the country.

Ryyan Alshebl, 29, who is a member of the German Greens but stood as a non-party candidate, won an absolute majority in Sunday’s mayoral election in Ostelsheim, a small municipality of about 2,500 inhabitants in the state of Baden-Württemberg.

German Companies Leaving Hungary Almost As Fast As They’re Leaving Germany

April 3, 2023 By in Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

In Germany they can’t afford to stay (energy costs).

In Hungary they can’t afford to pay (baksheesh). Or so they say.

Viktor Orbán Ups the Pressure on German Companies to Leave Hungary – German companies have long been active in Hungary. But now, Viktor Orbán is trying to force some of them to leave. And when they do, his closest allies stand to profit.

You Can Always Count On Us

April 2, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

To not be counted on.

Don’t thank us. It’s just what we do. Or don’t do, in this case.

German minister expects Bundeswehr shortages beyond 2030.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said the country’s military, the Bundeswehr, will not be able to bridge gaps in funding and supplies by 2030.

“We all know that the existing gaps cannot be completely closed by 2030… It will take years. Everyone is aware of that…”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a special fund to raise €100 billion for the Bundeswehr last year, although this has not yet been put to use. The government last week also earmarked €12 billion over the next nine years to supply Ukraine with newly produced weapons and ammunition rather than from German stockpiles.

Now It’s Credit Crunch Time

March 31, 2023 By in Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Energy price falls spark drop in German and Spanish inflation – Headline pressures ease but investors bet ECB will have to raise interest rates in May.

Some members of the governing council have called for the bank to adopt a more cautious approach after raising interest rates by half a percentage point this month.

The turmoil in the banking sector has also opened up the prospect of a potential credit crunch that could slam the brakes on both inflation and growth in the coming months.

German Of The Day: Schlechte Laune

March 29, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

The good news? Germans still have schlechte Laune (they’re still in a bad mood).

The bad news? They’re not in as bad a mood as they ought to be.

German consumer morale slows down on path to recovery – German consumer sentiment is set to nudge up in April as energy prices have relented somewhat from record highs, though a full recovery is not in sight anytime soon, showed a GfK institute survey on Wednesday.

The institute forecast its consumer sentiment index to improve to -29.5 heading into April from a revised reading of -30.6 in March, slightly below the expectations of analysts polled by Reuters of -29.0.

Not A Single German Train Will Be Late Today

March 27, 2023 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Heconomy, Helplessness, Hideology Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Because none of them will be running.

You know. Glass half full and all that?

Strike over pay paralyzes rail, air travel in Germany – Trains, planes and public transit systems stood still across much of Germany on Monday as labor unions called a major one-day strike over salaries in an effort to win inflation-busting raises for their members.

The 24-hour walkout — one of the biggest in decades — also affected cargo transport by rail and ship, as workers at the country’s ports and waterways joined the strike.