Leading German automotive supplier Bosch is set to slash a “five-digit number” of jobs as part of a major cost-cutting exercise, Handelsblatt reported on Thursday, citing anonymous industry sources.

Germany and other EU members have seen their industries lose ground globally after switching from inexpensive Russian oil and gas imports to costlier alternatives following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

Earlier this month, Bosch HR director Stefan Grosch revealed that the company’s mobility division, which produces fuel injectors and driver-assistance software among other items, was staring at an annual shortfall of approximately €2.5 billion ($2.95 billion).

In an email statement to the press, Bosch said it would be “cutting costs across the board – from materials and logistics to capital spending and jobs.”

In its report on Thursday, Handelsblatt noted the German company had already axed 4,500 jobs last year in its largest division at home.

In late July, BMW reported a 29%-year-on-year-drop in first-half profits. The German auto giant attributed the poor showing to the import duties on cars and vehicle parts imposed by US President Donald Trump in April as well as intense “competitive pressure,” particularly from China.

Fellow German automaker Volkswagen saw its after-tax earnings slump by 36% in the second quarter of the year, with Mercedes posting yet worse results.

In June, the German Press Agency (dpa) estimated that Germany’s industrial sector had lost more than 100,000 jobs over the past year.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz last month acknowledged that the country was “not just in a period of economic weakness, we are in a structural crisis of our economy,” caused by a loss of competitiveness.

Commenting on the economic woes witnessed across multiple EU member states, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described it in April as “the true cost of the EU’s anti-Russian agenda.”

Last February, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the German government was “destroying their auto industry.”

https://www.rt.com/news/625259-media-germany-bosch-to-slash-jobs/

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