German Industry Powerhouse Shaken to Core by War in Ukraine
- Dependence on Russian gas, oil hamstrings Berlin’s options
- Industrial base struggling with sky-rocketing energy costs
BMW Series 3 vehicles outside the company's manufacturing facility in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Photographer: Mauricio Palos/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Germany’s industrial base, just emerging from pandemic and unprecedented supply-chain challenges, is taking another beating with Russia’s war on Ukraine hitting its powerhouse car, chemical and precision-machinery manufacturers.
As the conflict pushes energy costs to new heights and a wave of inflation builds, scores of companies including BMW AG, BASF SE and ThyssenKrupp AG have warned their earnings will slip while others declined even to offer a prediction. Economists have slashed growth forecasts.