Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius defends company's saving course

Mercedes' CEO Ola Källenius defends the company's cost-saving measures. High energy and production costs, lengthy approval processes, and increasing regulatory burdens have impaired competitiveness, the manager told the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" (Friday edition).

The goal is to make Europe one of the most attractive places in the world again for investment, innovation, and industrial production. This requires pragmatism and speed.

Regarding the profitability of manufacturing in Germany, Källenius stated that they are working on all essential cost components, including energy, logistics, structures, processes, and labor costs. Labor costs are a relevant lever that companies and employees could influence directly together.

Locations outside Germany partially offer both: lower costs and longer working hours. This also influences the allocation of future products and investments. It is a major concern for the CEO to make the German location more productive and thus more competitive again.

Mercedes imposed an investment freeze in Germany on Thursday. The company is urgently pressing for an extension of working hours without equivalent wage compensation. If an agreement with the employee representatives fails, new models will increasingly be manufactured abroad, the threat warned. In Germany, factory closures are being examined.