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- Autoworkers have been hit hard in 2019.
- Around the world, roughly 80,000 jobs are set to be lost over the next few years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
- Last week, nearly 20,000 jobs were shed from German auto titans Daimler and Audi, due to falling sales and the increasing cost of electric car production.
- Electrification, trade disputes, and Brexit have hurt sales and caused costs to rise.
- View Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Autoworkers have been hit hard in 2019.
Globally, roughly 80,000 layoffs are set to take place in the next few years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, which analyzed automakers announcing large scale job cuts this year.
In the last week, nearly 20,000 jobs were shed from German auto titans Daimler and Audi, which both separately announced major cuts due to falling sales and the increasing cost of electric car production.
This comes after thousands of job cuts were announced at Nissan, as well as further cuts at Ford and GM earlier this year in the US. Bloomberg added that further cuts were announced in China, a big auto producer. NIO, a Chinese electric car startup, cut 2,000 in September, after its stock tanked 61% this year.
A variety of issues has hurt the industry.
Brexit and the tariff spat between the US and China are upping the price of car parts, while also hitting demand. Increasing electrification and teh rise of ride-sharing apps is also hurting sales.
Bloomberg, citing research from IHS Markit, said that car and light truck production slipped 6% compared to last year.
Production in the German auto industry (a good barometer of global production) from its peak in mid-2018 slipped 18% — a drop that Goldman Sachs in November said helped contributed to a third of Germany’s GDP decline since 2017. The bank said much of this has been due to Brexit, weak demand, and tariffs hurting sales.
Manufacturers are also pushing to increase electric car production. In late November, the Guardian reported that Audi wanted to save roughly €6 billion ($6.64 billion) through its 9,500 job cuts to invest in electric cars, as part of its aim to “become lean and fit for the future.”
Earlier this year, one analyst at Nomura said that “the pain is just beginning,” and that global car demand will continue to fall. Another analyst at Bank of America said that the auto cycle had peaked and now we’re expecting production to continue to fall.
Fitch Ratings in May said that the weakness in autos has hurt economic growth — the decline in auto sales in 2018 likely shaved off 0.2% of global growth that year.
