The bankruptcy spiral in Germany’s automotive supply industry is inexorably rising. Eissmann Automotive from Bad Urach has filed for bankruptcy, according to FOCUS Online.
Automotive suppliers in Germany are facing serious problems due to the difficulties of switching to electric vehicles. At the end of February, a well-known supplier from southern Germany suffered another blow, according to the newspaper Merkur.
Bad Urach-based Eissmann Automotive and its subsidiaries have filed for bankruptcy, putting around 5,000 jobs worldwide at risk, the company said. It added reorganisation measures taken in recent months had failed to offset the impact of the recession.
The automotive industry is in deep crisis; as Eissmann Automotive is not the first and not the last supplier to face financial difficulties. ZF Friedrichshafen, Continental, Michelin and Goodyear are also being forced to cut jobs and close plants.
The main difficulty lies in the transition to electromobility in vehicle production: the change requires fewer staff, as electric vehicles consist of fewer parts than classic internal combustion engines.
To all problems, rising energy and material prices as well as the development of interest rates in Germany have added to the problem. Significantly, employees, 1,000 of whom work in Germany, will receive insolvency benefits over the next three months.
Other industries are now also affected by staff cuts. Zurich-based Barry Callebaut, the world’s largest chocolate manufacturer, recently announced that 19 percent of its employees will be made redundant. Bayer is also planning layoffs. To incentivise employees to leave, the company is offering 52 months’ salary as a severance package.
