Dear reader,
Selling cars was just an enjoyable task. When parts were missing and vehicles were in short supply, buyers had to swallow high prices. A dream for the industry. Overcapacities are now back and supply exceeds demand. And things will get really tough in 2025: stricter CO2 regulations in the EU mean that a price war can be expected in the already difficult business with electric cars.
Car sales are becoming a billion dollar risk. And this at a time when more and more automobile manufacturers were actually dreaming of enormous improvements with the help of agency models and the like. What now? We want to talk about this with one of the most renowned salespeople in Germany’s automotive industry. On December 3rd at 6 p.m., Jürgen Stackmann (63), former Seat CEO and VW sales director, will be our guest at “manage:mobility live”. Our subscribers can take part in the digital discussion and ask their questions. You shouldn’t miss this. Click here to register.
Our topics of the week are not only about car sales:
Why Schaeffler is heading into a difficult future.
Why the billion-dollar agency sales dreams of Volkswagen, Stellantis and Co. are faltering.
How the works council and IG Metall want to save VW plants.
Topic of the week: Why Schaeffler is heading into a difficult future
At the end of October, Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Schaeffler (60), wearing a Schaeffler green tie, raised his thumb in the middle of dozens of trainees. “We are great!” that should probably mean. The reality at Schaeffler, the automotive supplier from Herzogenaurach in Franconia, is of course different. At the beginning of November, the supplier announced that it would cut 4,700 jobs. The takeover of the drive specialist Vitesco cannot hide the fact that Schaeffler has missed many opportunities in recent years. Georg Schaeffler’s alter ego, CEO Klaus Rosenfeld (58), has to restructure, which is why there is alarm in the company. My colleague Claas Tatje delves deep and describes, why Schaeffler is heading into a difficult future.
The number of job offers in the German automotive industry has recently declined sharply. So far, so unsurprising when you consider the inflationary news about austerity programs among manufacturers and suppliers. According to Index Research, car companies advertised a good 122,000 jobs between January and October last year, but in 2024 there were only a good 88,000 in the same period – a decrease of 28 percent. Computer scientists and managers in particular are currently less in demand, with the number of offers falling by 44 percent. Tough times, but things have been even tougher in the recent past: According to the evaluation, from 2019 to 2020 the car job market, which was already at a lower level, collapsed by 40 percent.
Deep Drive: No sharing in droves
The Federal Car Sharing Association is pleased: There are more car sharing vehicles available per capita in most cities in Germany today than two years ago. There are 1,000 inhabitants in Karlsruhe 5.35 sharing cars
, lonely top ahead of Munich (3.37) and Hamburg (3.04). However, the big breakthrough that some have been expecting for decades has yet to materialize. In cities with more than 100,000 residents the average rate is 0.76, while in medium-sized cities with 50,000 to 99,999 residents it is only 0.2.
Ghost driver of the week
Traditional automobile manufacturers who no longer really know what to do are apparently increasingly coming across their own brand when looking for ideas. Audi is removing the four rings from its first models in China. In the future, Jaguar will say goodbye to its iconic big cat emblem on its cars globally. At the end of 2025, the British, who cannot currently order new cars, want to go back to the future in terms of products with electric luxury cars. CEO Rawdon Glover is clear: “We will lose some of our existing customers on this trip.” If there aren’t too many. Or are we just seeing a PR stunt here? The first clip about the new brand strategy is generating a lot of buzz online. “How to destroy your brand in 30 seconds
“ is one of the friendlier comments.
Have a good week.
Yours, Christoph Seyerlein
Do you have any wishes, suggestions or information that we should take care of journalistically? You can reach my colleagues in the Mobility team and me at manage.mobility@manager-magazin.de
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