Daimler to cut thousands of jobs worldwide by end of 2022

• It marks the third announcement on cost cuts this week by a major German car company.
• Carmakers are having to make huge investments into cleaner and self-driving technologies as demand in China is falling.
• Daimler announced its plans to increase competitiveness in November, including cutting staff costs by around 1.4 billion euros.

(FRANKFURT) Daimler on Friday announced thousands of job cuts across the globe by the end of 2022 after reaching an agreement on its plans with labour unions.

It marks the third announcement on cost cuts this week by a major German car company.

Carmakers are having to make huge investments into cleaner and self-driving technologies as demand in China, their biggest market, is falling and a trade war between Washington and Beijing is curbing global economic growth.

The German automaker said that management had reached an agreement with labour on a variety of measures to cut costs and jobs including expanding part-time retirement and a severance program to be offered in Germany.

"The automotive industry is in the middle of the biggest transformation in its history," Daimler said in a statement.

Daimler announced its plans to increase competitiveness in November, including cutting staff costs by around 1.4 billion euros ($1.54 billion) by the end of 2022.

The announcement comes days after Volkswagen's luxury car unit Audi said it would cut one in ten jobs, freeing up billions of euros to fund its shift towards electric vehicle production.