Germany news: Car industry hemorrhaging jobs

Germany news: Car industry hemorrhaging jobs Published August 14, 2026last updated August 14, 2026What you need to know Here is a roundup of top stories from and about Germany on Friday, August 14, 2026: - A wildfire near the Belgian border has forced around 1,800 people to leave their homes - Amid high temperatures, farmers say drought could badly damage grain, potato, vegetable and feed crop harvests - Germany's car sector is losing jobs faster than any industrial sector in the economy For coverage of the wildfire in western Germany click on our dedicated blog here Don't let the algorithm hide the news. If you rely on our team for trusted reporting, please take a moment to select us as your Preferred Source on Google so you'll always see our verified news first. German hiker injured in Alps fall A 66-year old German hiker was seriously injured in a fall in the Austrian Alps on Friday according to authorities in Nesselwängle, Tyrol. Emergency services say the man slipped and fell a few meters, losing consciousness before falling over a second, 40-meter-high (132-foot) cliff. The man's daughter and others administered first-aid and contacted mountain rescue. He was airlifted to an Innsbruck hospital. On Thursday, a 36-year-old German died in a fall in Zillertal, Tyrol. A few days earlier, a 74-year-old German similarly died from a fall in East Tyrol. Almost half of Bundestag sign up to new 'opt-out' organ donor model More than 200 lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, have signed up to a cross-party initiative seeking to change Germany's organ donor rules. The proposal seeks to move from an "opt-in" system to an "opt-out" one. At present, people in Germany have to carry a donor card, register as an organ donor, or otherwise inform healthcare professionals of their willingness to donate in a legally binding manner before death. If they do not, and they are deemed potentially viable donors, sometimes their next of kin are asked to decide on their behalf — a traumatic and difficult decision in the midst of a bereavement. With donor rates consistently failing to meet demand, some medical professionals have long advocated a system where instead of declaring your willingness to donate, you are assumed to be a potential donor unless you specifically say you are not a willing participant. A draft law has been put forward in the Bundestag — not as a government initiative but as a cross party conscience vote, typically for causes with only a narrow chance of success but which politicians nevertheless wish to put in the spotlight. In this case, however, 245 lawmakers have already signed the motion, in a chamber with 630 politicians. If the bill could gather some more support during the parliamentary process, it might have a chance of progressing. Parliamentary debate on the bill is scheduled after lawmakers return from the summer break. Around 8,000 people are currently on donor waiting lists in Germany. Catamaran passenger ferry crashes into Lake Constance harbor wall A catamaran passenger ferry has crashed on Lake Constance, colliding with the harbor wall. Police said that 12 people were injured, and it was not immediately clear how seriously. They were receiving treatment on site. Images showed that the ship had collided head-on with the harbor wall, sustaining quite considerable damage. It was still afloat, however. Police said there was no fuel leak and no environmental hazard posed by the incident. What caused the early morning carsh was not immediately clear. The hourly catamaran ferry brings people across Lake Constance, or the Bodensee in German, from Konstanz to Friedrichshafen. Car industry hemorrhaging jobs Germany's automotive branch is losing jobs faster than any industrial sector in the economy according to the Federal Statistical Office Destatis. The car industry is second only to mechanical engineering when it comes to size, yet its employment numbers are now at their lowest since 2005. At the end of the first half of 2026, 691,500 people were employed in Germany's leading industry, a drop of 42,300 workers, or 5.8%, within a single year. Destatis said manufacturing employment fell by 2.7% overall but had fallen by 7.6% in the automobile sector. Smaller segments within the car sector fell by 10%, whereas manufacturers themselves registered a 6.1% drop in employment. In May, Germany's Association of the Automobile Industry (VDA) warned that the sector stands to lose as many as 225,000 jobs by 2035. Numerous German manufacturers, such as VW, Audi and Porsche, have all cut jobs in an effort to remain lean in the face of rising Chinese competition and punitive US tariffs. Welcome to our coverage Guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn. The major talking point on another hot, dry day in Germany is the wildfire near the Dutch and Belgian border. We've got a dedicated blog running on that story, but over here is a wrap of the other topics of the day. Including more damaging news for the once mighty car industry, and a sharp warning from farmers on the outcome of this years crop yield. Read on for more.