In the wake of the automotive crisis, many suppliers are fighting for their future. Therefore, some people try to change themselves. Example from Baden-Württemberg.
11/20/2025 | 1:47 min
It started with an air pump from the province of Baden. More than a hundred years later, Progress-Werk-Oberkirch (abbreviated PWO) makes components for dashboards, window regulator housings, and small electric motors.
A record year despite the car crisis
While other automotive suppliers struggled to survive, PWO received more orders than they could process, CEO Carlo Lazzarini proudly reported. Three consecutive record years:
We are 100 percent drive train independent and produce “locally for local”. This makes us strong in geopolitically difficult times.
Carlo Lazzarini, CEO of PWO
The German automotive industry is in crisis: thousands of employees at factories and suppliers have lost their jobs – from assembly line workers to engineers.
11/11/2025 | 6:10 min
PWO produces in eleven locations worldwide, ten of which are profitable and continuing to grow. Only the German plant gives you a stomach ache, Lazzarini told ZDFheute. But his company functions like a multi-cylinder engine:
If the cylinder is not working properly, you can withdraw it. As long as everything else works and doesn’t take too long.
Carlo Lazzarini, CEO of PWO
Trump’s tariffs and competition with China: How did it come to be?
High costs in Germany, US tariffs, weak sales, cheap competition from China, the switch to electric – it’s all happening at the same time.
Can you survive as a sole proprietorship? Yes, says industry expert Stefan Randak. Four points are very important:
- Cost management
- Process efficiency
- Bank management and stakeholders
- Customer choice
But small and medium scale suppliers find it difficult to do this. Additionally, many companies in the industry have gotten too comfortable in recent years.
There was a clear management error. The orders are coming in, the automotive industry is growing, especially through China, which is no longer the case today and will not be the case in the future.
Stefan Randak, automotive expert at Atreus GmbH
According to Randak, now it is a matter of optimization, restructuring and transformation. And the knowledge is often non-existent.
Out for Ford Saarlouis. This is the end of an era for the automotive city of Saarland. And a symptom of the entire country’s economic decline?
11/20/2025 | 2:54 min
Baden-Württemberg advises automotive suppliers
At the Baden-Württemberg state e-car institute, they try to support companies in the transition to new mobility solutions. Managing director Franz Loogen believes:
Supplier companies can no longer simply produce according to the drawings they receive from vehicle manufacturers. It must have system competency.
Franz Loogen, Managing Director of state e-car agency BW
In this way, the product can remain very innovative and attractive on the market, Loogen told ZDFheute.
Competition from China
:German suppliers lose market share
German car suppliers face increasing pressure from transformation, costs and international competition. However, there are at least two location advantages.
by Christian Hauser
Supplier to the automotive and medical industries
Such as intermediate supplier Konzelmann. The family business specializes in precision plastic components, for example for seals in gearboxes. They have also been investing in electromobility solutions for years and have developed award-winning components that make batteries safer.
Product innovations in recent years have received great interest and real orders from customers.
Milko Konzelmann, Managing Director of Konzelmann GmbH
Nearly 50,000 fewer jobs in the auto industry in a year. The number of employees has reached its lowest level since 2011, according to a report by stock market expert Sina Mainitz.
11/20/2025 | 1:29 min
At Konzelmann, they not only focus on the automotive industry, but also produce for other sectors such as medical technology. A strategy that has proven very successful in difficult times, Konzelmann told ZDFheute.
This diversification also leads to internal stability so that employees do not get nervous too quickly.
Milko Konzelmann, Managing Director of Konzelmann GmbH
Austerity programs, layoffs, bankruptcies: the German automotive industry is undoubtedly in its biggest crisis. But companies like Konzelmann and PWO show that those who are innovative and have a broad position in everything can not only survive, but also succeed in the future.
Consequences of the customs deal with the US
:How the German economy can get out of the crisis
The customs deal with the US hit the German economy hard. A study conducted by the Ifo Institute calculated exactly how. But it also shows the way out.
by Florian Neuhann
with videos1:49
