The global auto industry is carrying out large-scale restructuring amid delays in the electrification transition, a low-cost offensive from China, and a paradigm shift toward software-defined vehicles (SDVs). In stark contrast, Hyundai Motor’s union began a partial strike on July 13, signaling a summer labor offensive.<\/p>\n
According to industry sources on July 12, Volkswagen Group, the world’s second-largest automaker, has decided to cut more than 100,000 jobs \u2014 equivalent to 15% of its global workforce of 657,000. This marks the largest workforce restructuring in automotive industry history. The company has also decided to reduce its overall vehicle model lineup by up to 50% and close four plants in Germany.<\/p>\n
Mercedes-Benz is in negotiations to sell its German plants to KNDS, a German-French joint venture defense contractor, as part of cost-cutting measures. Audi also plans to reduce its workforce by 7,500 by 2029. Japan’s Nissan will close its Oppama plant in Japan by 2028 and has scrapped plans for EV production at its Mississippi plant in the U.S. The company has also halted development of a pure electric version of the Qashqai, its flagship model in the European market. U.S. premium EV maker Lucid Motors has also decided to cut approximately 18% of its total workforce, or about 1,500 employees.<\/p>\n
Behind this restructuring lies the EV demand slowdown (the “chasm”) caused by global high interest rates and inadequate preparation for the transition to future vehicles. Volkswagen and Nissan are losing market share in key markets, squeezed by the low-cost volume offensive from Chinese automakers.<\/p>\n
Analysts suggest that the next phase of restructuring will see an acceleration in the adoption of “physical AI.” General Motors temporarily laid off 1,300 workers at its Factory Zero EV plant in Michigan and installed 50 assembly-line robotic arms in their place, with the primary goal of reducing production costs.<\/p>\n
While global legacy automakers are shrinking, Chinese companies continue their aggressive expansion. Chery Automobile recently acquired the Rosslyn plant and site in South Africa that Nissan had vacated. BYD, following the start of production at its Hungary plant later this year, plans to decide on a second European plant acquisition in Southern Europe. In the first quarter of this year, overseas sales by Chinese automakers surged 56.7% year-on-year to approximately 2.22 million units.<\/p>\n
Hyundai Motor Group also faces a challenging environment. While it maintains competitiveness through hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles and is accelerating SDV development, declining sales and tariff burdens are darkening its earnings outlook. Securities analysts estimate Hyundai Motor’s second-quarter operating profit will fall 13.8% year-on-year to approximately 3.1 trillion won (approximately $2.1 billion).<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Hyundai Motor’s union has launched a three-day partial strike starting July 13, demanding performance bonuses equivalent to 30% of net profit, an extension of the retirement age, job security guarantees related to AI robot adoption, and the introduction of a full monthly salary system. Unions at major affiliates including Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Rotem are also pressuring management in wage and collective bargaining negotiations, with the strike front spreading across the entire group.<\/p>\n
Cho Chul, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade, commented: “Hyundai Motor Group had been relatively outperforming, but if labor costs rise and the smart factory system is delayed, it will become difficult to close the competitiveness gap with China.” He added: “From the company’s perspective, this will ultimately lead to reducing domestic production and increasing overseas production, which could make additional domestic hiring even more difficult, so continuous efforts to persuade the union are necessary.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The global auto industry is carrying out large-scale restructuring amid delays in the electrification transition, a low-cost offensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20947],"tags":[23154,42936,14556,24188,40462,42935,42937,3622,9436,5356,5523],"class_list":["post-53414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-volkswagen","tag-byd","tag-chery-automobile","tag-chinese-automakers","tag-gm","tag-hyundai-motor","tag-hyundai-motor-union","tag-lucid-motors","tag-mercedes-benz","tag-nissan","tag-volkswagen","tag-volkswagen-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}