Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2020-02-23.
Germania. Immatricolazioni auto -7.3% yoy, -13.1% mom.
«Nel 1896 una fiorente industria dei trasporti spinse Henry Ford a costruire la sua prima automobile in un autonoleggio a Mack Avenue e nel 1904 venne prodotto il Model T. L’industria di Ford (e di tutti i pionieri del settore come i fratelli Dodge e Walter Chrysler) rafforzò la posizione di Detroit come capitale mondiale dell’automobile. ….
La “12th Street Riot” nel 1967 accelerò l’allontanamento dei bianchi dalla città. La percentuale di residenti neri crebbe rapidamente e, non solo i bianchi continuarono a lasciare la città, ma l’immigrazione dei neri dal sud continuò. ….
La crisi petrolifera dal 1973 al 1979 scosse l’industria automobilistica degli Stati Uniti, mentre le utilitarie di produzione straniera fecero il loro ingresso sulle strade tradizionalmente dominate dalle case automobilistiche americane. ….
Il 18 luglio 2013, la città [Detroit] ha dichiarato fallimento, a causa dell’impossibilità di pagare debiti stimati tra i 18 e i 20 miliardi di dollari. ….» [Fonte]
Detroit è oggi una città spettrale, spopolata e violenta, con moltissimi edifici abbandonati e cadenti, come dopo un bombardamento, un’amministrazione fatiscente ed una miseria palpabile, quasi da quarto mondo.
Le superstiti case automobilistiche hanno delocalizzato con rapidità fulminea.
Aver lasciato fallire gran parte del comparto automobilistico è stato un crimine contro l’umanità.
Ma evidentemente la storia deve ripetersi, nella sostanza se non nella forma.
* * * * * * *
«Germany’s auto heartlands in peril as ‘golden age’ fades»
«A malaise in Germany’s mighty automobile industry, caused by weaker demand from abroad, stricter emission rules and electrification, is starting to leave a wider mark on Europe’s largest economy by pushing up unemployment, eroding job security and hitting pay»
«The German auto sector is expected to cut nearly a tenth of its 830,000 jobs in the next decade»
«Some think-tanks and government officials fear that the toll will be higher as electric cars provide less assembly work than combustion engine vehicles, simple work steps are replaced by automation and companies relocate production»
«This is not yet 1970s Detroit, a U.S. car center that was plagued by urban decay as factory relocations, cheaper imports and higher fuel prices destroyed jobs»
«At the Schmitts’ plant in Hallstadt, workers are trying to avoid forced layoffs; at a Bosch factory in nearby Bamberg, pay cuts and reduced hours have been agreed»
«With pockets of rising joblessness in the affluent, auto-producing heartlands of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg in southern Germany, there are serious implications for a country which relies on the car industry for roughly 5% of its economic output and, and an important part of its national identity»
«Threats of mass lay-offs will be a defining feature of upcoming wage negotiations in the metalworking industry where unions are focusing more on job security than pay hikes»
«he announced massive job cuts and a business review to cope with plunging profits»
«We’re talking here about some 25,000 jobs in the region; that’s roughly 15% of the overall workforce»
«Yet this region, which heavily depends on combustion engine technology, is facing a challenge that will have repercussions for Germany as a whole»
«Under the scheme, companies can apply for state aid to avoid lay-offs and keep skilled workers for a limited time of currently up to 12 months.»
«For the economy as a whole, this means consumers have less money to spend, eroding Germany’s most important pillar of economic support in recent years as exports falter»
« Even without the planned changes, the number of employees already forced to work in Kurzarbeit schemes jumped to 96,000 in November, up from about 20,000 two years before, and surpassing levels last seen during the euro zone debt crisis in 2012/13, according to the Federal Labour Office»
«Some auto suppliers have cut pay without applying for state aid under the short-time schemes»
«“We canceled our holidays, we also told the children that we have to scale back special treats,” Kristin said. “Now, we all pray that we can keep the house.”»
* * * * * * *