Volkswagen AG and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG are reducing hours for a total 86,000 workers to rein in production as the global recession deflates demand for vehicles. BMW, the world’s largest manufacturer of luxury cars, will drop shifts for 26,000 employees in February and March, trimming its automaking by 10 percent, while Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, will shut five German factories from Feb. 23 to Feb. 27, affecting two-thirds of its 92,000-strong German workforce.
The cutbacks are in response to the worst car markets in almost two decades. Deliveries in Germany fell 2 percent in 2008 to less than at any time since the country’s reunification in 1990, while the U.S. car market contracted 18 percent to a 16- year low. Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz unit has put its main German factories on shorter working hours in the first quarter.
“Conditions remain challenging on the international automotive markets,” Munich-based BMW said today in a statement. “This trend also has an impact on the BMW Group.”
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