Germany’s economic model is broken, and no one has a plan B

Workers at Audi's Ingolstadt plant turned out more than 400,000 vehicles in 2023.

Sun, 02 Feb 2025

By Tom Fairless and Bertrand BenoitChristian Scharpf, mayor of Germany’s second-richest city, Ingolstadt (pop 140,000), is looking for ways to save close to €100 million (NZ$185m). Carmaker Audi, headquartered here near the Danube River, used to pump more than €100m a year in municipal tax into Ingolstadt’s coffers through its parent, Volkswagen, but those flows dried up over a year ago. In November, Audi reported a 91% decline in operating profit for the three months through to September and has been cutting th...

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