Mercedes halts German investments

 

Mercedes halts German investments

 

The automaker has been in negotiations with employees after it asked them to work 40-hour weeks instead of the current 35 but for the same pay.

 

Mercedes-Benz employees protest outside the company's Stuttgart headquarters on Sept. 21, 2026. | Thomas Kienzle/AFP via Getty Images

 

November 12, 2026 9:14 pm CET

By Jordyn Dahl

https://www.politico.eu/article/mercedes-halts-german-investments/

 

Mercedes-Benz is stopping all investments in Germany and looking at potential factory closures after negotiations with unions hit an impasse, according to an interview that was posted Thursday on the company's internal communications system and seen by POLITICO.

No specific plants have been identified for closure, but the board said it would "stop all further investments at our German sites," adding that any future manufacturing would take place outside of Germany if no deal is reached with the union.

The automaker has been in negotiations with employees after it asked them to work 40-hour weeks instead of the current 35 but for the same pay. The two sides have not reached an agreement.

"I am fully aware that the 35-hour week was hard fought for and means a great deal to many colleagues," Britta Seeger, a member of the automaker's management board, told employees, according to the internal document. "We are not questioning it lightly. But the conditions under which it was agreed no longer exist in the same form today."

Mercedes is also "reviewing additional elements of compensation and special payments, including voluntary benefits such as profit-sharing as well as collectively agreed components such as vacation and Christmas bonuses," Seeger said.

The industry is facing headwinds including tariff costs, high energy prices and increased competition from Chinese carmakers.

Like its German peers, Mercedes is also losing market share in China, which had helped subsidize costs in Germany. In October, the luxury brand said its Chinese sales dropped 31% year-over-year in the third quarter, far more than anticipated.