Angela Merkel
The representatives of the auto industry made a crisis phone call to the chancellor on Wednesday.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
Munich, Frankfurt The bosses of Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen talked to the top government representatives on the phone for about an hour on Wednesday evening. The topic: How does the industry come from stopped for several days out?
Chancellor took part in the round Angela Merkel (CDU) and the ministers Peter Altmaier (CDU) and Olaf Scholz (SPD) too VW-Boss Herbert Diess, BMW-Boss Oliver Zipse, Ola Källenius from Daimler and IG Metall boss Jörg Hofmann.
So far, the car companies and their main suppliers have stopped the tapes until the end of April and sent tens of thousands of people on short-time work. The reason for this is the protection of employees and the increasingly sluggish supply of components from all over Europe.
The car manufacturers fear primarily about the supply chain, participants report to the Handelsblatt. While Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen are still liquid for a few months, many suppliers will face financial collapse in the coming weeks. In Germany the car manufacturers are preparing to support strategically important suppliers in individual cases.
The situation for companies in Spain and Italy is dramatic; the VW Group alone has up to 800 suppliers in both countries. The lack of just a few parts can lead to production downtime.
The heads of the auto industry pointed out that the difficulties of southern Europeans have a massive impact on their own business. The car manufacturers are pleading for generous help for the EU partners Italy and Spain, which have been hard hit by the corona crisis.
More: Follow the current developments in the corona crisis in our news blog.