German car industry languishing amid struggle to master electric vehicles
Employees of German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen display banners and flags during a demonstration called for by metalworkers' union IG-Metall at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, northern Germany . Volkswagen is planning the first factory closures in its history.
On Friday morning the German statistics office revealed the economy had eked out 0.1 per cent growth in the three months to September after a 0.3 per cent decline in the second quarter. While it averted headlines of a technical recession – two successive quarters of contraction – the expansion was half the rate expected by economics for the former industrial powerhouse that has lagged the wider EU since 2021.
BYD overtook Elon Musk’s Tesla late last year as the world’s top seller of EV units with its more affordable range. It sped past Tesla in terms of overall revenues in the third quarter of this year for the first time, helped by hybrid sales as well as battery-powered vehicles. While the sector employs about 800,000 in its home market, it supports more than a further 2 million indirectly across thousands of Mittelstand businesses .
The country has largely missed the tech boom, with the exception of SAP, the business management software group. Its politicians and regulators would rather forget about Wirecard, a digital payments wunderkind that collapsed four years ago in a fraud scandal.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Volkswagen plans to close at least three German plants and cut thousands of jobsEurope’s largest carmaker tells works council it would slash pay by 10%
Read more »
German police arrest eight suspected members of right-wing group plotting coupMilitant group’s ideology ‘characterised by racist, anti-Semitic and partially apocalyptic ideas’, says German interior ministry
Read more »
German football club accuse Elon Musk of fuelling hate speech as they leave XWerder Bremen have left X for Bluesky and urged their followers to do the same after growing tired of owner Elon Musk and his 'transphobic and anti-Semitic comments'
Read more »
Sister of German backpacker murdered in North in 1988 has ‘hope’ fresh inquest will bring answersKilling of Inga Maria Hauser (18) remains one of Northern Ireland’s most high-profile unsolved murders
Read more »
‘Solitary and sad’ German man (63) jailed for 12 years over house fire that killed motherGuenter Lohse set fire to home in Co Donegal after family plan to send him back to Germany, court heard
Read more »
Putin repeats Ukraine demands in first call with German leader since 2022Berlin urges Kremlin to negotiate ‘just and lasting peace’ with Kyiv
Read more »