Frankfurt (AFP)

German automaker Audi, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, announced Tuesday the removal of 9,500 jobs by 2025 in Germany, another bad news coming from this sector turned upside down by electrification.

In order to "prepare Audi for the challenges ahead" and finance the electricity transition, Audi plans to improve its profitability and aims to have a positive impact on its financial results of € 6 billion by 2029.

Job cuts will include non-replacement of retirements and without dismissal, said the manufacturer in a statement. He also promises to create 2,000 "new expert positions" in areas related to electric mobility and the connected car, which will be recruited first and foremost internally.

Currently, some 90,000 people work at Audi, including 60,000 in Germany. The company said the remaining positions at its two German sites are guaranteed until 2029.

The financial resources made available should enable the margin towards the target to increase by 9-11% against 7.8% over the first nine months of 2019. They will also be invested in the "subjects of the future" such as electricity or electricity. the connected car, explains the group in a statement.

The goal: regain competitiveness while the brand lost ground against BMW and Mercedes and accumulates in the electric behind the main competitor Tesla.

The restructuring plan comes as the German car industry, the mainstay of the country's economy, is suffering from the economic slowdown. The expensive electrification, necessary to meet the strict standards of CO2 emissions under penalty of heavy fines, further degrades the margins.

- 'Dieselgate' -

At Audi, sales, revenue and operating profit fell in the first three quarters of the year, while the group's other leading brands - VW, Skoda and Seat - and the automotive industry as a whole advanced. .

In its third quarter report, the Volkswagen Group noted that the effects of the disorder caused by the entry into force of the new anti-pollution standards, the increase in investment in new technologies and staff costs have weighed on of its high-end subsidiary.

"We can not yet be satisfied with the evolution at Audi," said the giant's financial director, Frank Witter.

Audi will notably reduce the production capacity of its two German plants, which are already suffering from a drop in demand.

The plan "ensures our future growth", commented the boss of the group Bram Schot, which will give in early April its place to Markus Duesmann, defector of BMW, which must allow a new start to the premium manufacturer after the era Stadler tainted by the scandal diesel.

Mr. Schot had taken over as head of the brand in the wake of the departure in June 2018 of Rupert Stadler. The latter, briefly incarcerated, was sent to justice in the scandal of diesel engines faked which has cost a fine of 800 million euros to Audi last year.

- Industry at half mast -

A pillar of German industry for decades, the automotive sector is now an Achilles heel: the country's car production has fallen by 9% over the first ten months of the year, as a result of less foreign demand.

And the sector is vital for Germany: it accounts for one fifth of the industry, nearly 5% of GDP and more than 800,000 direct jobs.

Beyond the impact of the trade dispute, the diesel's loss of popularity after the scandal of the dieselgate leaves traces: the equipment manufacturer Continental will notably abandon the manufacture of hydraulic components for diesel and gasoline engines and therefore anticipates some 5,500 deletions. jobs in less than 10 years.

Downsizing has been announced for several large groups, ranging from Volkswagen to Bosch to Daimler and Ford. And the crisis pushes some companies of the "Mittelstand", this dense network of small and medium enterprises considered for ten years as the key to success in Germany, close to bankruptcy.

According to a study published last year by the employment agency, some 114,000 jobs will disappear by 2035 due to the shift to electric cars.

© 2019 AFP