Short-time work at Opel in Bochum, a threatened Ford-engine plant in Köln – The automobile-suppliers at the Rhein and Rhur has to prepare for bitter times!
Big suppliers in the country are however still optimistically. Like Georg Fischer, producer of engine components from <link _top>grey cast iron and <link _top>light metals, with plants in Mettmann and Werdohl.
“The order situation is still very good”, said concern-speaker Markus Sauter. For Georg Fischer the situation has been relieved a little, after over one and a half year they had to add extra shifts and employ temporary workers. They had to work 30 percent over the normal production for a longer period of time in Mettmann, the second largest <link _top>foundry of the concern with 1150 workers and therewith the biggest employer in the city. The situation in the work Werdohl looked similarly. “Of course we really hope, that it won’t be a depression from this relief”, further said Sauter.
The automobile-expert Ferdinad Dudenhöffer is however sure, that the worldwide flagging demand for cars – especially in the USA – will have serious consequences on the producers and suppliers. “If Opel doesn't need cars for 14 days, then you don’t need seats and other parts”, says the professor, who has just changed from FH Gelsenkirchen to the University Duisburg-Essen and takes over a professorship for business and automobile economics there.
