Tag Archives: Germany

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Ford cuts 3,500 jobs in Germany

In mid-2022, Ford hinted that it would stop producing its popular compact Focus next year, and now it’s official. This decision will cause the loss of 3,500 jobs in Germany.

The factory in Saarlouis was opened in 1970, and after 55 years it could be completely closed. Ford had talks with Chinese brands BYD and Chery about taking over the factory, but also with a German manufacturer of solar panels. However, the latest information suggests that the deal has not been made.

Although Ford intended to assemble its new electric models in this factory, it will not happen. Plans have changed and the new electric Ford models will be assembled at a factory in Valencia, Spain. Some information says that Ford made an agreement with the union IG Metall to lay off workers. Union representatives said that after 2025, around 1,000 workers will remain at the Saarlouis factory, who will be offered retraining, and that there will be no forced redundancies until 2032. Also, employees will be able to leave early with severance pay.

Source: Reuters

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Germany predicts a drop in demand for EVs in 2024

In the last year, the demand for electric vehicles in Europe has been on the rise. One of the largest manufacturers, the BMW Group, achieved an increase in EV sales in 2023 by 74.4% compared to 2022. However, now the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) is predicting a drop in demand for EVs in 2024.

Of course, this does not apply to the world market, which expects a growth in demand for EVs this year as well. This could ultimately bring export growth (19 percent to 1.45 million vehicles) but also higher profits for German manufacturers.

At the end of last year, the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz completely abolished subsidies for electric vehicles, a year earlier than previously planned. Germany will sell over 524,000 fully electric cars in 2023 – more than any other market in Europe. The predicted drop in sales this year means that the share of EVs in Germany will drop from 18 to 16 percent (about 74,000 vehicles less than in 2023).

Inflation, high prices and poor infrastructure of charging stations mostly affected demand, so many manufacturers postponed the introduction of new electric models. Even the leading car rental companies are looking for alternatives for their fleets due to the high cost of maintaining electric vehicles.

The VDA expects the German car market to drop by 1 percent to 2.82 million in 2024. At the same time, the global market is forecast to grow by 2 percent to 77.4 million cars. “Problems in the supply chain have largely been resolved, but the business environment for German carmakers remains challenging,” said VDA chief economist Manuel Kallweit.

Source: German Association of the Automotive Industry – VDA

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Germany will not use scanning cars to control illegal parking

The number of cars is growing year by year, so a large number of cities have the problem of how to provide a sufficient number of parking spaces. Some cities, such as Paris, are considering higher prices for SUV owners, and some are using scanning cars to check if drivers have paid for a parking space. Whether this constitutes a violation of citizens’ privacy is a question that troubles the German government.

Brussels has 13 scanner vehicles that patrol the city monitoring 30,000 registered parking spaces. That’s 5.3 million scanned license plates of parked vehicles annually, and there are always those that violate regulations. On average, about 450,000 fines for unpaid parking are issued annually, thanks to which the income is almost three times bigger than before.

“Someone buys a ticket at the parking machine or via SMS. A car that passes and scans between parked vehicles takes photos, including license plates. This information is forwarded to the database and if it turns out that parking has not been paid, the fine is sent to the car owner. Our parking officers check about 500 vehicles a day on foot, while we can check 1,000 cars per hour with a scanner vehicle. Given the increasing pressure around parking in Brussels, it is necessary to check more often,” said Eric Dubois from parking.brussels.

The German government was close to introducing this method of checking parked vehicles, but due to opposition, the decision never came into effect. Also, there are other models like the one used in Amsterdam, where the police have introduced an automated mobile system that sells parking tickets. Thanks to this, incomes are higher than before, and car owners in densely populated cities are motivated to use public transport or bicycles.

Source: DW

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Germany will not use scanning cars to control illegal parking