Mercedes’ parent company Daimler AG expects to cut about half the jobs at its engine manufacturing units across Europe once it transitions to fuel cells and electric vehicles.
According to media reports, Martin Daum, chief executive-Daimler Trucks, said that this shift would take about 15 years and the industry has begun preparing for it. The company, which is the largest truck maker in the world, expects 60pc of its global sales to come from zero-emission vehicles which run either on hydrogen fuel cells or electric batteries. In fact, Daimler recently signed a deal with Shell to set up hydrogen refueling stations at the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands and in the German cities of Cologne and Hamburg.
The reason for the job cuts is simply that the new age engines are not as complex to assemble or manufacture as today’s diesel engines and transmissions. Most electric vehicles do not use a multi-speed transmission at all, but a speed regulator which controls the motor.