Overview
- Schwarz‑Gruppe, which announced the move on Friday, confirmed it will temporarily stop ordering pure battery passenger cars for employee fleets in Germany while it reassesses market conditions.
- The company says the decision reflects volatile automotive markets and changing rules and points to weak demand and steep residual‑value losses for used electric vehicles as the main economic driver.
- Unlike many firms that lease cars, Schwarz‑Gruppe usually buys fleet vehicles and then resells them, a practice that increases its exposure to rapid EV depreciation from faster range, charging and software advances.
- The pause applies only to Germany; the group will keep buying EVs in other countries, maintain partnerships with German automakers, and continue expanding customer charging with 24,024 charge points at 6,973 sites by the end of FY2025.
- Employees will be offered alternatives such as job tickets and bike or e‑bike subsidies, and the decision could prompt other large buyers to recheck fleet economics and push for policy changes affecting company‑car tax or used‑EV markets.