Morning Briefing: Ist Mercedes noch zu retten?
Mercedes verliert Absatz und Rendite, und auch die Belegschaft wird unruhig. Ob der Konzern ein Weltunternehmen bleibt oder zur Regionalmarke schrumpft, hängt nun an einem Rettungsplan.
Good morning, dear readers, for Mercedes‑Chef Ola Källenius things are not going well. The criticism directed at him is considerable. The group finds itself in one of the most severe crises in its history. Profits are shrinking, sales are falling. In the second quarter, the automobile division generated only 0.2 percent return on sales.
From January to September, sales declined compared to the same period last year by seven percent to 1.24 million passenger cars. Even the workforce is taking to the barricades, demanding the same pay for more work.
Källenius is now attempting with a large plan to turn the tide. Several thousand temporary workers apparently seem set to go and parts of production to be relocated abroad. In addition, he is betting on a concept that sounds simple but is complicated: the modular principle. As my colleague Michael Scheppe discovered, Mercedes plans to build future models from modules for front, rear, side and floor, which vary in size depending on the vehicle type.
Tesla and Chinese manufacturers are doing it already. Mercedes currently relies on five different platforms, or technical skeletons. In the future, there will be fewer of them.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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