Porsche: massive layoffs provided in the Cellforce subsidiary

Porsche wishes to dismiss 200 of the 286 employees of the only CellForce site, in KirchentellinsFurt (southwest), said Kai Lamparter to theAFPlocal representative of the Ig Metall union, confirming information from the weekly Spiegel published the day before. Mr. LAMPARTER says he was informed of a collective dismissal announcement filed with the Reutlingen employment agency.

100% owner of this subsidiary created in 2021, Porsche did not confirm the information of Spiegel. “It is likely that layoffs are announced on Monday[…] Which is frustrating because many employees are on vacation, ”adds the union official. Cellforce specializes in the production of battery cells, a crucial element of electric cars.

But in April, Porsche had warned that it would cancel the expansion projects of its subsidiary, which recorded “additional exceptional costs” in the first half of 2025. These are in particular depreciation of its production facilities, up to 295 million euros.

Formerly considered to be a “centerpiece” of the Volkswagen group brand, according to its director general Oliver Blume, Cellforce has never managed to catch up with Asian heavyweights in the sector. In July, Porsche also announced preparing a new savings plan, after a first wave of 1,900 posts announced in February.

It is a new setback for German car manufacturers, stuck in a complex electric shift due to high energy costs and a loss of international competitiveness. According to the newspaper Handelsblattthe luxury cars specialist now put on external suppliers, such as the Chinese Catl or the South Korean LG, in the field of batteries.

The announcement of dry layoffs is also a surprise in the Volkswagen group, which had promised not to resort to it when presenting a massive savings plan in December containing 35,000 job cuts, underemployed departures.

Mr. Lamparter demands Porsche to wait for mid-September to negotiate a collective agreement with the works council, created in early August, rather than “to face 200 individual judicial cases”. The IG Metall union will organize a rally in KiChentellinsFurt on Monday with local political representatives.