LEINFELDEN-ECHTERDINGEN (dpa-AFX) – Works council chairman Michael Brecht has criticized the savings targets of commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck as unrealistic. “If we set goals, they must be ambitious, but ultimately achievable,” Brecht said at the Dax Group headquarters in Leinfelden-Echterdingen near Stuttgart.
Given inflation and many contrary developments, it is very difficult, he added. The company has set a goal of reducing its fixed costs, investments and research and development spending by 15 percent by 2025 compared to 2019. “I don’t think it’s realistic to achieve this figure in this way,” Brecht said.
Extreme pressure
There is extreme pressure to reduce fixed costs, Brecht said. Administration and distribution costs are in focus. For distribution, this involves removing certain processes. The company wants to transfer certain tasks carried out today in Germany to countries with lower cost structures, for example in Romania. When it is not a question of changes in processes, but of simple relocations, the works council is particularly attentive, according to Brecht.
“Of course we need a good return on turnover, of course we need to work on the resilience of the business,” Brecht said. But as a member of the works council, it is not always decisive for him whether the last percentage point of the savings targets is achieved. “For me, the decisive thing is whether we are doing the right things now so that we really have a functioning business in the market.”
The company has experienced very good development. Finally, the operating margin in industrial activities – therefore excluding financial services – was 9.8 percent. “A few years ago we would have given everything to reach such a level,” Brecht said.
“We have enough financial resources”
“The clear requirement is: We want to have our own technologies,” Brecht said, thinking about the future. There is enough money, “we have sufficient financial means”. There are many areas where the company should invest significantly more, he added. For example in research and development. Whether electrified powertrain or battery technologies: Daimler Truck should do significantly more to differentiate itself. In the field of batteries, for example, there is a strong dependence on Chinese companies. The company cannot afford to purchase technologies important for its competitiveness.
Brecht has long called for battery cell production in Germany. Recently, Daimler Truck announced plans to produce battery cells in a joint venture with American partners. According to Brecht, this is primarily due to the “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA). The IRA is a multibillion-dollar U.S. grant program.
Criticism of the debt brake
Without this requirement, it will be difficult to realize a battery cell factory in Germany. In countries like Hungary, it is easier to obtain a debt. In this context, Brecht also criticized the federal government’s debt brake. Germany has a relatively low debt ratio. We must therefore ask ourselves whether we cannot take on a little more debt to equip ourselves in the long term with technologies and an infrastructure capable of competing with those of the rest of the world.
Looking to fiscal year 2024, Brecht said, “I think the wind will be a little stronger.” The success of 2023 cannot simply be transferred to 2024./rwi/DP/mis
2024-01-06 12:04:14
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