Excerpted from the Germany Career Guide
Germany has the largest automotive market in Europe with annual revenues of more than 317 billion EUR. It manufactured 5.5 million passenger vehicles in 2010, more than one-third of Europe's total automotive production. Approximately 709,000 workers are employed in the automotive sector.An average of ten new automotive patents are registered daily. Germany's car makers are profiting chiefly from breaking into the North American market, although their success extends worldwide. Roughly one in five vehicles across the world is made by German manufacturers.
German vehicle manufacturers earned record profits last year, which is a good thing because the extra money will be needed this year to protect against the ongoing euro crisis and to invest in new technologies. Companies are prepared for a slowdown this year, but one isn’t guaranteed. However, for the moment things continue to look promising. Volkswagen extended temporary work contracts at its Wolfsburg headquarters to help during peak production periods through 2013.German car manufacturing plants for BMW, Daimler and Audi are operating at full capacity – they actually had to shorten the winter vacation last year to fulfill orders.
Organizations and Trade Associations
Verband der Automobilindustrie – VDA
Association of the Automotive Industry
http://www.vda.de/ (German, English)
VDA, the Association of the German Automotive Industry, includes automobile manufacturers, their supplier-partners, and manufacturers of trailers, body superstructures and containers. The VDA publishes an annual report that assesses the previous year’s trends and discusses trends for the future. In addition, more than 500 member companies can be accessed.
Verband der Automobilindustrie eV
Behrenstrasse 35
D-10117 Berlin
Tel: +49 (0)30 897 842 0
Fax: +49 (0)30 897 842 600
Email: info@vda.de
Labor Unions
IG Metall
Industrial Trade Union Metal
http://www.igmetall.de/ (German)
IG Metall (Industriegewerkschaft Metall) is one of the biggest German labor unions with nearly 2.3 million members. The union is mainly concerned with salary agreements and protection of its members against arbitrary decisions taken by employers. This website offers publications, workshops, meetings, general services and traineeships.
IG Metall Vorstand
Wilhelm Leuschner Strasse 79
D-60329 Frankfurt am Main
Tel: +49 (0)69 6693 0
Fax: +49 (0)69 6693 2843
Email: internet@igmetall.de
Publications
Autohaus
Car house
http://www.autohaus.de/ (German)
Autohaus is a biweekly periodical for the automotive industry. The same publisher also offers other titles for the automotive industry such as Autoflotte and Auto Service Praxis. It contains a jobs and careers section and offers advice to executives and jobseekers.
Springer Automotive Media
Springer Fachmedien München GmbH
Aschauer Strasse 30
D-81549 München
Tel: +49 (0)89 20 30 43 1500
Email: vertriebsservice@springer.com
This is just a short sample of what you’ll find in over 100 pages of information in the complete Germany Guide.
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