My government is going to strangle the German car industry slowly, with great care.
And Pleasure.
Germany: Merz pledges to resist 2035 EU electric car switch – Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would oppose the “hard cutoff” currently planned by the EU, aiming to stop registering new internal combustion engine cars by 2035. The goal was already under review and looking fragile.
Progress marches on.
Industrial giant Bosch shocks Germany with plans to cut 13,000 jobs – The Bosch group, one of Germany’s leading industrial players, has announced a far-reaching job cut programme. On 25 September the company said it would cut an additional 13,000 positions by 2030.
Germany’s Lufthansa To Cut 4,000 Jobs By 2030, Targetting Admin – Lufthansa set new financial targets for 2028-2030, including an adjusted operating margin of eight to 10 percent.
That means reduction, to dismantle or cut.
German car industry sheds 51,500 jobs in a year – The dip equates to almost 7% of the total workforce in the German auto sector. Faltering exports to China and the US play a role, as new tariffs raise barriers to entry in both these core markets.
“The US and China are currently the cause of major concerns.”
And missing their targets in the process.
German top politicians’ cars exceed CO2 targets: study – If EU emissions targets for the car industry were applied to top German politicians’ official vehicles, the fleet would fail, according to a climate body’s new study, saying it was “emblematic” of German carmakers.
That means delusional.
Merz ‘delusional’ over US sparing German cars in EU trade deal – Brussels has warned German chancellor not to expect UK-style carve-out for car sector in EU deal with Donald Trump.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz is “delusional” in his expectation that Germany’s car industry will be spared from US tariffs, according to EU officials involved in trade talks with the Trump administration.
Merz has been pressing the European Commission, which manages trade policy on behalf of the EU’s 27 member states, to sign a “framework” deal with Washington aping the US-UK agreement signed earlier this month, which included a special dispensation for cars.
But Brussels officials have privately told Berlin that such an arrangement would not be possible, as reducing German car imports is a big focus for US President Donald Trump, two people briefed on the discussions told the Financial Times.
Until they do.
Then an agreement is reached and the tariffs are lowered. We could ask Elon but this doesn’t seem like rocket science to me.
Trump’s Tariffs Cost BMW $11 Million A Day, So Germans Want A Deal – European carmakers are losing millions daily to US tariffs despite American production bases.
Trade wars rarely end well for anyone involved, and when the crossfire hits the automotive industry, the damage adds up fast. Nowhere is that more evident than in Germany, where the ongoing tariff standoff is racking up some eye-watering costs. According to a new report, BMW is losing a staggering $11.3 (£8.4 / €10) million per day thanks to U.S. tariffs.
We’ll just give up. Probably next week some time.
But we will not give in!
Germany leads defiance of Trump car tariffs, saying it ‘will not give in’ – President Donald Trump targets imported cars and car parts with a 25% tax in his latest tariffs.
Other major world economies have vowed to retaliate, with France’s president branding the move “a waste of time” and “incoherent”, Canada calling it a “direct attack”, and China accusing Washington of violating international trade rules.
Talking is always good. But action is better.
Until today, the EU imposed import tariffs on US cars five times higher than the tariffs imposed by the US on European imports.
That’s changed now.
German minister, autos lobby call for urgent EU-US talks over tariffs.
At Germany’s automobile industry burial.
Volkswagen AG workers in Germany will pause production on Monday to join rallies about the automaker’s plans for unprecedented factory closures in the country.
Labor leaders plan to inform employees at 11 German sites about the latest on negotiations with the company. The events kick off a contentious week for Europe’s biggest carmaker, which is expected to post declining sales and profit when it reports third-quarter results on Wednesday…
The automaker has had a rough few weeks since it issued its second profit warning in three months in late September. While its premium brands including Audi and Porsche have been the carmaker’s biggest source of profit in recent years, they’re now struggling. Porsche AG on Friday said it’s weighing cost cuts and reviewing its model lineup after a demand slump in China hit its profits.
Other than that though, alles ist in Ordnung (everything’s OK).
Germany’s lost decade: How the Fortune 500 Europe giant is flirting with long-term irrelevance – There is an elephant in the room of the 2024 edition of the Fortune 500 Europe. It’s not a crisis-riddled company or scandal-hit CEO. Rather, it’s the whole German economy.
For most of the 21st century, economists and neighboring countries have looked to Germany with admiration and envy as it managed to weather economic storms with relative ease, capitalizing on trade with growing economies and expanding the power of its industrial giants in the process.
However, a shifting world order has pulled the carpet out from underneath Germany. The industrial quirks that once helped it outgrow its European peers are fast becoming a burden, and crisis after crisis has exposed a lack of planning at the top of government.
Observing Hermann 