Bosch to cut 750 more jobs at Abstatt as Asian competition bites

Abstatt site to lose 750 jobs

Bosch plans to cut 750 positions at its Abstatt site in the mobility division, with the reductions to be completed by the end of 2029 and carried out as socially compatibly as possible. Abstatt lies in the Heilbronn district, roughly 35 kilometres north of Stuttgart, and about 5,300 people work there. Handelsblatt first reported the plan, and the company confirmed it to that paper. Staff were informed on the evening of 3 November.

The affected unit is Vehicle Motion, which develops brake systems, vehicle motion software, occupant protection systems and vehicle sensors at the site. The Cross-Domain Computing Solutions unit and the subsidiary Bosch Engineering GmbH are not affected by the cuts. Bosch Engineering already eliminated 480 jobs at Abstatt and Holzkirchen last year, as carmakers placed fewer development orders.

Asian competition and a shift to China

Bosch names competition from Asian suppliers and the structural upheaval in the car industry as the main reasons for the cuts. In its statement the company said:

“Modern integrated brake systems face much stronger price competition, and new Asian suppliers are pushing cheaper solutions onto the European market.”

Brake-by-wire systems, which remove the direct mechanical or hydraulic link between the brake pedal and the wheel brakes, are increasingly launched first with Chinese customers and developed together with Bosch's local site in China. Die Welt reports that Chinese carmakers have become first customers more often for new technologies such as electronic steering and brakes. Bosch says this means fewer capacities are needed in Abstatt. Mohammed Abraham, the divisional finance chief, told Die Welt that customer-facing tasks at the site are falling away:

“To secure Abstatt's role in the long term, we have to adjust our structures and costs, and unfortunately there is no way around that.”

Wider cuts at Bosch and across the sector

In September Bosch announced that its Nürnberg site would halve its workforce, which means 900 jobs. Die Welt reports that, together with the Abstatt cuts, German job reductions in the mobility division rise by 1,650 to 23,650. A Bosch spokeswoman had earlier said that more than 23,000 jobs in the division in Germany would be lost over different periods. Handelsblatt notes that the 1,650 are on top of 22,000 jobs already announced for the division in Germany since 2024, with the latest programme running until 2032.

Bosch, Abstatt (by end of 2029)750

Schaeffler, Germany2,660

Bosch, Abstatt (by end of 2029)

750 jobs

Schaeffler, Germany

2660 jobs

Data from the article text

Bosch wants to save 2.5 billion euros a year across the group, and Handelsblatt puts its group-wide cost for such social programmes at over four billion euros. The rival Schaeffler announced on Tuesday, 3 November, that it would cut 3,460 jobs across Europe, 2,660 of them in Germany, to save around 300 million euros a year. Die Welt describes the German car industry as being in crisis because of competition from and in China, US tariffs and low margins on electric cars.

Wage talks and warning strikes

The job cuts land in the middle of wage negotiations. The peace obligation expired at the start of the week, and on Monday, 2 November, thousands of employees, including Bosch staff, went on warning strikes. Handelsblatt concludes that Abstatt is unlikely to be the last additional cut, since the sector's pressure is rising and the job reductions already announced are not enough.