At MAN Truck & Bus, apparently significant cutbacks could affect the German plants. As reported by the Süddeutsche Zeitung among others, IG Metall warns of "drastic decisions" by the company that are set to be announced this week. According to the reports, the German production sites would be affected, including the main plant in Munich.
Union warns of cutbacks
The union has, together with works councils from several plants, addressed the public and pointed to possible cutbacks. According to the SZ report, it is conceivable that investments or certain production areas could be relocated abroad, specifically to Poland, where in Krakow there is a modern, but significantly cheaper-to-produce plant. "All investments in the future should basically flow to Poland," explained the unionist and supervisory board member Sibylle Wankel to the newspaper. That would allow one to calculate what this would mean for production at the German sites in
the long term.
Group: No final decision has yet been made
The group counters that no final decision has yet been made. However, it is clear that the return on eight percent should rise. And that a decision is now needed on where it makes economic sense to invest. "And that is currently, unfortunately, not in Germany," explained CFO Koljonen according to the SZ.
Reportedly, the focus of the decisions should be the Munich, Nuremberg, and Salzgitter plants. The background are rising input and energy costs as well as a persistently difficult market. The company feels itself increasingly under competitive pressure, also from rising competition from China such as bus manufacturers Yutong or BYD, which can offer rock-bottom prices, especially for electric-powered vehicles. The Süddeutsche Zeitung also points to the Swedish corporate rival Scania, which reportedly shows higher profitability.
Lack of market recovery
Only at the end of
October did MAN Truck & Bus present current figures and report that the expected market recovery has so far not materialized. CFO Inka Koljonen said at the end of October that they see no meaningful market recovery in the long term and also, according to an interview published in the intranet, "for various reasons expect permanently lower transport volumes - and thus truck sales lower than previously anticipated." The core markets in Europe — especially Germany — continue to be weak. Among the factors are a weak economy, growing Chinese competition in electric vehicles, and the tightened requirements of European climate policy.
The company emphasizes that, despite the difficult conditions, it continues to work on its crisis resilience. This statement aligns with the assessments from the quarterly report, in which MAN points to the need to become structurally more competitive.
Business figures in the third quarter
Despite these
economic tensions, MAN Truck & Bus reported a solid result for the first nine months. According to the company, revenue remained virtually stable at 9.9 billion euros. Deliveries rose by four percent to slightly over 71,000 vehicles. The business with buses and vans developed particularly strongly. Deliveries of the van model TGE rose by eighteen percent and, according to the company, reached the strongest month since market launch in September. Bus sales also grew by more than a third.
Electric mobility grows strongly
MAN recorded growth in the first nine months of the year primarily in vehicles with electric propulsion. Sales in the period stood at 1,090 units, almost three times higher than the previous year. At the end of September, the company also unveiled a new fully electric tour bus. Electric mobility is expected to gain importance in the coming years and is a strategic focus of
