Part 4 - Lord Jim Audiobook by Joseph Conrad (Chs 20-26)
Worst crisis since the Second World War German automotive industry facing the abyss.
It was time for Martin Winterkorn to relax President exhausted the VW group sat in a leather seat on the company jet, from a conference in Berlin, where he warned the participants of the consequences of the crisis financial, it had been a long day, it was 21 hours and it was still in the air.
We have never seen this kind of crisis, Winterkorn, 61, said at the conference, the German automotive industry, he told his audience, must prepare for a drought lasts long It would not be possible to avoid difficult and painful cuts measures, said Winterkorn.
Even after the conference, sitting in the jet of the company, VW's head was still preoccupied with the question How bad is it really Winterkorn has been in the industry for decades and has withstood many attacks But he also is baffled, I don know what else will happen, he said.
According to Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler, there are those in the industry who believe that up to 100,000 jobs will be lost in the German automotive industry in the next 10 years some said Zetsche, even suggest that it is the worst crisis since the Second World war.
The CEO of Daimler has already concluded that Mercedes-Benz will produce more than 150,000 fewer cars than expected in 2009. The management is negotiating with union representatives about the possibility of Mercedes reduce the working week to 30 hours, with a corresponding reduction in pay for workers, or the introduction of a part -time work at Daimler may have to cut several thousand jobs How Zetsche, 55, is not even willing to risk a guess.
Norbert Reithofer, CEO 52 years old BMW, is similarly baffled He believes the company is in the biggest crisis in its history BMW has already cut more than 8,000 jobs this year production in its factories closed for several weeks time, a step that Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz also took But this will not be sufficient to offset the sharp decline in sales in some markets, auto sales fell not far from the 1973 oil crisis .
Sales were down in the automotive industry.
In October, car sales dropped 32 percent in the US and nearly 15 percent in Europe, sales were also down in old growth markets in India and Brazil, while economic growth China is weakening.
This crisis is different from before Opel is fighting for its survival, because its parent company, General Motors, is the edge of the mismanagement of bankruptcy in Ford and Chrysler led the two companies in a situation of the same It was hopeless predictable.
But now even VW, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are at risk, companies that were considered the most stabile in their industry even executives at Japanese carmaker Toyota are worried According to Executive Vice President Mitsuo Kinoshita, the current situation is an emergency, on a scale we have never seen before.
There are reasons for this general uncertainty massive The auto industry is under attack on many fronts.
Sales are declining rapidly worldwide If there is an anxious thing consumers can delay it is buying a car economic crises normally affect a large market, enabling major automotive companies to compensate for the difference in other countries, but this time the financial crisis shakes North America, Asia and Europe simultaneously.
Suppliers are also threatened Banks have cut funding of investment required Some suppliers are already at the brink of bankruptcy If the largest manufacturer of mirrors and door locks fail, automakers will be forced to stop production, and will be difficult to quickly find replacements.
It offers consumers financing is also becoming more difficult part of the reason VW, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche have experienced such phenomenal growth in sales in recent years is that they offered to clients attractive packages leasing and financing Now automakers lending divisions have to pay high interest rates to get the necessary funds on the capital markets, if they can borrow at all therefore, they can not attract customers with auto loans at low interest.
Ultimately, the whole business model of VW, Mercedes-Benz and BMW begins to weaken it assumes that car manufacturers can consistently increase sales by continually introducing new models This is the only way to guarantee jobs for automakers, still standing is indeed in reverse businesses not increase sales are shrinking in fact, because productivity in their plants growing by 5 to 10 percent annually declining sales can potentially lead to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.
Opel is not the only German automaker to ask for government assistance VW, Daimler and BMW have also submitted applications They want Berlin to issue government loan guarantees on loans taken by automakers finance divisions They also ask the German government to pay a premium every person who replaces a car more than 10 years with a new and they want to see Brussels cancel its plans to impose sanctions on manufacturers not meeting their CO2 emissions targets.
However, its hard not to think that some manufacturers are just trying to divert attention from their own mistakes Most problems are homegrown companies placed too much emphasis on growth at any cost, while neglecting to develop fuel-efficient cars earlier in the game.
However, calls for help show the seriousness of the situation is already some executives questioning whether Daimler and BMW will survive the crisis that independent companies and a close examination reveals that two important businesses Achilles heels.
Part 2 German carmakers slip into the danger zone.
Worst crisis since the Second World War German automotive industry facing the abyss SPIEGEL ONLINE, worst crisis world.