Continental to cut 13,000 jobs in Germany as coronavirus crisis deepens

Continental, the German automaking parts manufacturer, intends to save over €1 billion ($1.18 billion) annually from 2023, doubling an announced savings target earlier, the company said.

Over 30,000 jobs globally — around 13 percent of its workforce — are set to be “modified, relocated or made redundant,” the company said, with about 13,000 of those in Germany.

The Hanover-based company said that “persistently low global vehicle production as well as the deepening economic crisis as a result of the coronavirus pandemic,” has led to this decision.

Continental does not expect auto production to get back to the pre-coronavirus crisis levels of 2017 before 2025.

In August, it said net profit dropped 41 percent to €485 million ($574 million) in the second quarter.

“The entire automotive industry is currently faced with enormous challenges. It has not experienced a larger, more severe crisis in the past 70 years,” said Elmar Degenhart, the CEO of Continental.

The company had initially announced measures in September 2019 that would have affected up to 20,000 jobs globally, including some 7,000 in Germany.

But Continental said the figures don’t take into account any jobs created by new ventures in digital technology, automated driving, or from electric vehicles.