The automotive industry continues to cut jobs in Germany: in the first half of 2026 alone, the number of employees in the sector fell by 42,300 compared to the previous year. This is the largest decline among the country's major industrial sectors, Bild reports.

The automotive industry in Germany currently employs about 691,500 people, the lowest figure since 2005. Component manufacturers have been particularly hard hit: employment there fell by 7.6% in one year, to 219,500 employees.

Automotive expert Ferdinand Dudenhoffer told Bild that the main job cuts in this sector are still ahead.

“We are in a recession that is far from over and will only become fully apparent in the coming years. The ‘avalanche’ is still far from its full scale, it is just starting to gather momentum. The next few years will be tough,” Dudenhoffer said.

According to him, the numerous job cuts announced at Volkswagen, BMW, Porsche, Bosch, and ZF are not yet reflected in the statistics. He predicts that by 2030 the number of employees in the German auto industry could reduce to just 500 thousand.

Among the reasons for the current crisis, the expert cites high costs in Germany, competition from China, and the automation of production. in his words, Germany “risks losing not only car production, but also the development of new technologies.”