Armaments industry – Neckarsulm – Rheinmetall armaments group realigns itself – Economy

Düsseldorf / Neckarsulm (dpa) – The armaments group Rheinmetall wants to reorganize itself in order to make faster progress on future issues. The previous division into an armaments and an automotive division is to be canceled and the administrative headquarters of the automotive supplier holding company in Neckarsulm to be dissolved. Around 60 employees work in the administration there. In future, the group will be completely controlled from the Düsseldorf headquarters. Group boss Armin Papperger wants to present the structural reform at the annual press conference today.

As a result of the restructuring, the two previous parts of the company are to be more closely interlinked in five “divisions”. Topics such as autonomous driving, sensors and artificial intelligence are to be developed together instead of being developed in parallel in two corporate divisions. The armaments business is set to gain in importance: The share of sales of tanks, military trucks, ammunition and security technology for the military and police is expected to increase from 63 percent to 70 percent in 2025.

The Group’s mainstay as an automotive supplier has been a problem child at Rheinmetall for years. While armaments sales were booming, Automotiv was weak. A part of the group is to be completely sold – the piston production is for sale. The demand for pistons for internal combustion engines is likely to decline because these parts are no longer needed in electric cars. Rheinmetall employs around 4,000 people in piston production; in addition to Neckarsulm, there are also locations in the Czech Republic, Brazil and North America.

Rheinmetall has a total of around 23,300 full-time positions, half of them in Germany. Around 55 percent of the workforce has previously worked in the armaments sector and 45 percent in the automotive division.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210317-99-863960 / 2

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