Because of the debilitating car market and high costs, the headlight manufacturer Hella pulls out the red pencil. The company announced on Wednesday in the Westphalian city that it plans to cut 420 jobs in Lippstadt by mid-2026. It’s about the factory at the company’s headquarters, which currently has around 1,000 jobs and is making losses. In the future, only headlights will be manufactured there; the production of taillights as well as interior and body lighting will be relocated to other European Hella locations. In the Lippstadt plant, the production level must be increased and the cost base reduced. This will strengthen competitiveness, according to the company.
According to the information, the workforce reductions should be carried out “as socially acceptable as possible”. When asked whether there would also be dismissals for operational reasons, a company spokesman said that they wanted to negotiate with employee representatives as soon as possible and find “a solution that was viable for all sides”.
The company, which celebrated its 125th anniversary a good two weeks ago, has around 37,500 jobs worldwide, of which almost 8,000 are in… Germany and 4,200 of them in Lippstadt. The French automotive supplier Faurecia took over around 82 percent of the shares in Hella at the beginning of 2022, after which the common umbrella brand Forvia was created.