These days, Volkswagen, the biggest auto producer in Germany, is making most of the negative headlines with its plans to eliminate another 50,000 jobs on top of the already decided 50,000 ones. But the perspectives of other leading automakers are no less dramatic: Mercedes sold about 27 percent fewer vehicles in China, 3.6 percent more in Europe, operating profit plummeted by 57 percent to 5.82 billion euros in 2025, and the automotive division’s return on sales is now just five percent. An employment guarantee rules out layoffs for operational reasons until 2035, leaving the executive board with few options to change the situation.
The alleged solution is that Mercedes is demanding unpaid overtime for its workers. A statement from Stuttgart illustrates just how the mood in the auto industry has shifted: “We should all work more for the same pay across all areas.” According to a Spiegel report, this is what an internal memo from the Mercedes-Benz Executive Board to all employees in Germany states.
Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius, Supervisory Board Chairman Martin Brudermüller, and the entire Executive Board are demanding that the workforce abandon the 35-hour workweek agreed upon in the collective bargaining agreement—without any compensation, of course. The proposal is to work 40 hours a week at no extra pay. At BMW, the management wants to cut bonuses to workers, which amounts to a full monthly salary.
Will the labor unions accept that? And if they reject it, would they come up with a real alternative—calling for production partnerships with Global South countries, which are the only real guarantee for expanding production and sales of cars?