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Paul Seewer
![Andreas Faust (49), BLICK car chief]()
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Andreas Faust (49), BLICK car chief
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zVg
![The system is at the end: more markets, more models, more sales - in the auto industry it has been all about sheer size for too long.]()
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The system is at the end: more markets, more models, more sales – in the auto industry it has been all about sheer size for too long.
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Dukas
![In Europe alone there is overcapacity of around two million cars, estimates industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer.]()
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In Europe alone there is overcapacity of around two million cars, estimates industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer.
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Getty Images
![General Motors CEO Mary Barra, 58, has withdrawn her brands from many markets to better focus her company on its strengths.]()
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General Motors CEO Mary Barra, 58, has withdrawn her brands from many markets to better focus her company on its strengths.
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Sergio Marchionne (1952-2018) was a friend of clear words. No matter how modest the former Fiat Chrysler boss in a sweater looks in the world of car suits: he said what he thought. “We all build too many cars,” for example. But nobody was listening to him.
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This week, the auto industry took stock of the Corona crisis. Her conclusion: job cuts. 15,000 at Renault and almost as many at alliance partner Nissan. Supplier ZF ennet des Bodensee in Friedrichshafen (D) is also cutting 15,000 jobs. And BMW is also negotiating internally about job cuts, competitor Mercedes has long announced it. And they probably won’t be the last.
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Industry always wanted more
The corona crisis has ruthlessly exposed the fragility of the auto industry. Even the former boom market of China can no longer be relied on. The system of manufacturers and suppliers is financially sewn so that the corona-related slump in sales goes straight to the substance. But Corona was just the drop in the long full barrel.
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For too long, the auto industry has relied on the strategy of “more and more”: more and more markets, more and more models, more and more sales. Maximum number of pieces at any price instead of a healthy margin. The competition should be pushed away with sheer mass. Marchionne was right. They all built too many cars. Overcapacity is around two million in Europe alone, industry expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer (68) predicts.
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Smart women instead of crazy machos
Macho behavior was certainly involved. Alpha bosses like VWs Martin Winterkorn (73) or Renault-Nissan Carlos Ghosn (66) set themselves a simple goal: to be the biggest. The few women at the top of the group show how it could be done.
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Citroëns now retired boss Linda Jackson (61) ended the mad discount battles of her brand and made it profitable again. At General Motors (GM), Mary Barra (58) recognized that you don’t have to play hell everywhere, stamped brands, sold Opel and pulled Chevrolet out of Europe and Russia. Since then, GM has been out of the negative headlines.
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To save time
Renault and Nissan are now the cut, sharing models, technology and markets in the future to become more efficient. Nissan cuts its factory capacity by 20 percent, Renault shuts down from 4.0 million cars a year to 3.3 million in the future. The time is right: On July 1st, Luca De Meo (53), a beacon of hope as the new Renault boss. The Italian had recently given VW’s handsome, but long weak daughter Seat new strength. He can now develop visions without having to take responsibility for the savings plan.
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But the bill of the old system is paid by those thousands of employees for whom there will be no more space in the auto industry.
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