, Columnist
Struggling German Family Is Down to Its Last $16 Billion
Germany’s industrial difficulties are encapsulated by the family-controlled car parts maker Schaeffler. Theirs probably won’t be the last fortune to suffer a bruising.
Ouch.
Photographer: Arne Dedert/DPA
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If you’re looking for a company that encapsulates the wrenching changes that are set to upturn Germany’s economic model over the next decade or so, you could do worse than study what’s happened to Schaeffler AG.
On Wednesday, the family-controlled automotive and industrial components group scrapped its long-term earnings targets, announcing 900 job cuts and the closure of several factories. The shares tumbled 8 percent, bringing the decline since January 2018 to a wretched 55 percent.