Archive for the ‘IG Metall’ Category
European unit wants 6% profit margin by 2020.
by Michael Strong on Jan.10, 2019
Steven Armstrong, Ford of Europe's chief, confirmed the unit is taking measures and examining other options to become profitable.
With speculation swirling about the details of an almost certain link up between Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG, the company announced it plans to cut “thousands” of jobs in Europe in the near term.
“We are taking decisive action to transform the Ford business in Europe,” Steven Armstrong, group vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said in a statement on Thursday.
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Ford Europe has been a money loser for several years and now needs to restructure its operations to turn that trend around. The unit employs about 53,000 people. (more…)
Tags: Ford Europe restructuring, Ford European operations, Ford cutting thousand of jobs in Europe, Ford restructuring plans for Europe, TheDetroitBureau.com., auto news, ford europe job cuts, ford news, michael strong, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, Business, Diesel, Earnings, Europe, Executives, Ford, GM, IG Metall, Markets, Minivans, PSA, Personalities, Sales, Trends, Union | Comments Off
Diess targeting “slimmed down company” and focus on new technologies.
by Paul A. Eisenstein on Apr.13, 2018
VW's new CEO Herbert Diess wants to both cut costs and shift focus to new technologies.
Volkswagen Group is likely to be a very different company in the coming years, at least if new CEO Herbert Diess has his way, the new chief executive outlining some of the key changes he has in mind during a Friday media briefing that followed a management shake-up the day before.
The one-time BMW board member has been viewed as a change agent since joining VW in 2015, just months before a scheme to rig diesel emissions tests was revealed by the U.S. EPA. Diess has already trimmed what is often described as a bloated workforce, in the process slashing almost $5 billion in costs.
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He is expected to further attack costs at the German giant while also putting more emphasis on new technologies and services. And VW officials suggested they could move to trim assets, though they cautioned that a rumored spin off of their truck business isn’t in the cards – yet. (more…)
Tags: Diess Strategy 2025, Diess changes for VW, Diess making moves, Diess plans for VW, Diess replaces Mueller, TheDetroitBureau.com., Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess, auto news, paul a. eisenstein, thedetroitbureau, volkswagen news
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, Business, EVs, Executives, IG Metall, Luxury Vehicles, Personalities, Pickups, Sports Cars, Super Cars, Union, Volkswagen | Comments Off
New plant comes as competitor expands in U.S.
by Joseph Szczesny on Feb.21, 2018
Markus Schäfer, Mercedes board member, marks the groundbreaking of the company's new plant in Germany.
Mercedes-Benz Cars broke ground on a new factory on its home ground in Sindelfingen outside of Stuttgart that the automaker claims will be the most modern production center in the world when it opens in 2020.
“Our ‘Factory 56’ will define a new way of building cars. With its ‘Factory 56’, Mercedes-Benz Cars is creating the car plant of the future,” said Markus Schäfer, member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production and Supply Chain.
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“It combines three trend-setting features: It is consistently digital and flexible – and it brings the term ‘green production’ to life. As the inventor of the car, we are reinventing production.” (more…)
Tags: German plant Mercedes, Mercedes announces new plant, Mercedes building new German plant, Mercedes-Benz new plant, TheDetroitBureau.com., auto news, joseph szczesny, mercedes news, thedetroitbureau
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, BMW, Business, Europe, IG Metall, Luxury Vehicles, Markets, Mercedes, Sales, Union | Comments Off
New deal includes 4.3% pay raise, shorter work week provision.
by Joseph Szczesny on Feb.07, 2018
German workers secured a new contract with a 4.3% pay raise and new rules for a shorter work week.
Union members in Baden-Württemberg, one of the most prosperous regions of German and the home of companies such as Daimler AG, Porsche and Bosch, appear to have gained a major bargaining victory, gaining a 4.3% pay increase and a reduction of the average work week to allow more time off for family leave.
The deal between IG Metall and the Suedwestmetall employers’ federation, which represent the employers, including major carmakers, calls, for workers in Germany to get a 4.3% pay increase April starting April 1.
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The workers will also receive other payments spread over the following 27 months until 2020, IG Metall’s Roman Zitzelsberger told reporters at the conclusion of the talks. (more…)
Tags: German auto workers new deal, German union new contract, German workers get new pact, German workers new auto deal, IG Metall gets workers new deal, TheDetroitBureau.com., auto news, joseph szczesny, thedetroitbureau, union news
Posted in Automakers, Automobiles, Business, Contract Negotiations, Europe, IG Metall, Markets, Union | Comments Off
IG Metall preparing for industrywide strike as part of talks.
by Joseph Szczesny on Jan.31, 2018
German workers are being prepared to take a strike vote in talks with automakers.
German carmakers and suppliers are in a major battle with IG Metall, the powerful metalworkers union, which is demanding higher wages and shorter hours. The negotiations are turning into the biggest confrontation between labor and management in more than a decade.
So-called “warning strikes” – short-term walkouts lasting no more than 24 hours – have already hit Daimler AG and Porsche this week as well as major suppliers such as Bosch and ZF. In all, an estimated 260 metalworking firms have been targeted by IG Metall and more than 120,000 workers at Volkswagen AG are poised to go on strike for 24 hours, starting Thursday.
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The walkouts, which stretch across Germany’s industrial centers, follow a failed set of negotiations, where neither the employers nor the union could agree on a formula for a new wage agreement, observers in Germany noted. (more…)
Tags: German union auto talks, IG Metall negotiations with automakers, IG Metall news, IG Metall warning strikes, IG Metall workers bracing for long strike, TheDetroitBureau.com., auto news, automakers talking with German union, joseph szczesny, thedetroitbureau, union news
Posted in Audi, Automakers, Automobiles, BMW, Business, Contract Negotiations, Earnings, Financials, IG Metall, Investors, Mercedes, Porsche, Union, Volkswagen | 1 Comment »
