Overview
- A new VDA survey of 124 suppliers and mid-sized manufacturers finds 72% are delaying, relocating or cancelling planned investments in Germany.
- Some 64% of respondents reduced headcount at German sites in 2025, and 49% of those cutting domestically expanded staffing abroad.
- Firms report little intention to scale back in the United States or China, while one third plan to reduce engagement in the European Union.
- The lobby cites high energy and labor costs, taxes, bureaucracy, slow procedures, weak digitization and poor infrastructure as key disadvantages.
- The VDA urges Berlin and Brussels to adopt market-based incentives and technology‑neutral climate rules to stem further erosion, noting auto employment fell from 833,000 in 2019 to 726,000 in 2025.