Hungary’s Low Costs Fuel Mercedes Work-Time Clash as 16,000 Auto Jobs in Germany Face Axe
Published on 06/25/2026 at 18:26 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The numbers tell a stark story. What covers the wages of a single vehicle assembled in Germany buys the production of three cars in Hungary, according to Mercedes-Benz finance chief Harald Wilhelm. That 70-percent gap in factor costs is now driving a bitter internal standoff over working hours — one that could cost up to 16,000 jobs across Mercedes and BMW.
Mercedes board chairman Ola Källenius is scheduled to speak publicly about the company’s direction on 21 July in Stuttgart. Meanwhile, Martin Brudermüller, the head of Mercedes-Benz’s supervisory board, has demanded a return to the 40-hour work week — without any additional pay. The proposal has met fierce resistance from worker representatives.
Ergun Lümali, chair of the company’s works council, told Der Spiegel the demand is counterproductive. The 35-hour week, he said, is enshrined in the collective bargaining agreement and “not up for debate.”
Brudermüller argues that Germany’s declining competitiveness leaves the company no choice. Extending hours would boost productivity, he contends. But the union pushback signals that the battle over industrial transformation is far from settled.
Job losses are already visible across the sector. Industry expert Stefan Bratzel estimates that Mercedes and BMW could each cut a mid-single-digit percentage of their roughly 160,000-strong workforces — a combined total of up to 16,000 positions. That mirrors a broader trend: since 2019, employment in Germany’s automotive industry has fallen from 840,000 to barely 700,000.
Other manufacturers are also downsizing. Audi has already completed 4,500 of the 6,000 planned job cuts in indirect areas. Volkswagen may eliminate up to 50,000 positions by 2030, a prospect that has drawn sharp criticism from its works council regarding how management has communicated the plan.
Analysts at Bernstein Research have maintained a “Market-Perform” rating on Mercedes shares with a price target of €61, citing resilience in the company’s supply chains.
While automakers and unions battle over hours, the federal government is moving toward more flexibility. Labour Minister Bärbel Bas presented a draft reform of the Working Hours Act in June. The key proposals would allow collective bargaining partners to agree on a weekly rather than daily maximum working time, introduce mandatory electronic time tracking, and scrap the current 11-hour rest period. Business associations and the opposition CDU/CSU have criticised the draft.
The clash at Mercedes shows that the question of work design remains one of the central flashpoints in Germany’s industrial transformation — and the pressure from lower-cost production sites like Hungary is only intensifying the friction.
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