BERLIN, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Germany's automotive industry needs further restructuring, including tighter cost discipline, workforce adjustments and reforms to business models, the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) said on Wednesday, as Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz press ahead with cost-cutting programs.
The comments by VDA President Hildegard Mueller came as Volkswagen's supervisory board prepared to discuss further restructuring measures, and days after tens of thousands of Mercedes-Benz workers protested against the automaker's planned savings program.
"Automotive companies will have to undertake further reforms and adjustments in light of the ongoing and acute challenges facing Germany as a production location," Mueller said in a statement.
She said companies needed tighter cost discipline, "unfortunately also necessary workforce adjustments," and far-reaching reforms to their business models, adding that denying the need for action was "not an option" and would be "socially irresponsible."
Mueller also called on Germany to open its manufacturing sites to foreign automakers to help preserve industrial capacity and jobs, saying, "We should therefore open up these sites to foreign manufacturers as well. Every site we manage to retain here helps secure jobs."
Germany's car industry has struggled with weak demand, high energy and labor costs, mounting international competition and persistent disadvantages as a manufacturing location, prompting automakers to accelerate restructuring efforts. ■