Following the announced factory closures by Schaeffler, Hildegard Müller, president of the Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), has appealed to policymakers to urgently improve the conditions for businesses in Germany.
Speaking at the “Competitive Germany Summit,” organized by Politico in Berlin, Müller stated that “the competitiveness of this country must finally become a top priority at all political levels in order to initiate the necessary trend change.” She warned that “political inaction costs further jobs every day.”
The automotive supplier Schaeffler had previously announced the closure of four locations in Germany, alongside further planned job cuts of 3,460 across Europe, of which 2,660 are based in Germany.
Müller acknowledged that the transition-the change from internal combustion engines to electric technology-is inevitably leading to significant job losses. However, she stressed that where new jobs will be created and where billions of industrial investments will take place is ultimately decided by the region’s location factors. The case of Schaeffler, she argued, once again demonstrates that companies must react to the poor location conditions currently present in Germany.
