AUTONEWS

Edward ''scissorhands'' arrived at Mercedes

Although sales are up, management of Daimler, Mercedes's parent, is in savings mode. The news was carried by the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, which had access to an email sent to employees by the German group's general council, which was pushing to cut 10% of management-level jobs, around 1,100, to also advance with the freezing of the salaries of Daimler's 300,000 workers in Germany.
Although Daimler declines to comment on the cuts allegedly announced by CEO Ola Källenius, the news has already been confirmed by Handelsblatt and German agency Deutsche Press-Agentur. The cuts were reported at a meeting with investors and shareholders in London, with Källenius explaining that the effort is due to the strain of the global trade wars, the high cost of some of the latest recalls and the heavy penalty imposed by the authorities. German devices for handling diesel engine emissions associated with Dieselgate.
To cope with its approach, Daimler has already protected itself with provisions worth € 2.6 billion. To this should be added, according to the German press, the second-quarter losses of 1.2 billion euros.
Who didn't like the cuts was Michael Brecht, chairman of the general labor council and member of the supervisory board, who labeled them "incomprehensible." According to Brecht, although some cuts are inevitable, Källenius's proposal strikes him as disproportionate to the company's current financial situation, leading him to "categorically reject it."
Following the announcement of the CEO and Brecht's reaction, talks took place between them, but no unanimous solution could be found. To summarize his position on the subject, the chairman of the general council said: “This is like the current season: it is not cold yet, but increasingly stormy and the clouds are getting darker.”