A new study has warned that Germany’s car industry could lose nearly 190,000 jobs as manufacturers shift towards electric vehicles.
According to the industry body VDA, the sector’s electrification will reduce automotive employment by 186,000 jobs in Europe’s largest economy by 2035 compared to 2019 levels.
VDA noted that approximately 46,000 of these jobs—about a quarter of the projected losses—have already been cut as manufacturers focus on producing “only a few purely battery-electric vehicles.”
This warning comes a day after Volkswagen workers revealed plans to shut down at least three factories in Germany and lay off tens of thousands of employees as part of a significant cost-cutting effort.
VDA President Hildegard Müller described the industry’s transformation as a “mammoth task,” stating, “One thing is clear—our study confirms again—that the shift toward electromobility will lead to job losses.
This reduction in employment is not primarily a crisis but rather a part of the transformation. However, it is crucial that the political framework supports and guides this change.”
