Daimler CEO Ola Kaellenius told German Sunday paper Bild am Sonntag that the group was targeting a reduction in personnel costs by 1.4 billion euros ($1.56 billion) by end-2022.
“The company was focusing on staff attrition, reduced working hours as well as voluntary buyout packages to cut personnel costs but the overall number of jobs affected was not clear yet”, he added.
Daimler said in November it was seeking more than 1 billion euros in savings from cutting staff costs at its Mercedes-Benz business by the end of 2022 because of tougher emissions rules.
The Daimler CEO ruled out a merger with BMW,”We will stay competitors and we are banking on collaboration projects where it makes sense.”
The car industry would have to brace for a long-term transformation, Kaellenius said. “This is not an economic crisis that will be followed by a market upswing in just two or three years.” ($1 = 0.8949 euros)