2019.12.0413:42:00UTC+00German Vehicle Industry To Shed Jobs At Faster Rate In 2020: VDA

German vehicle manufacturers are likely to cut more jobs in 2020 after employment in the industry hit its highest in nearly three decades last year.

The employment level remained stable at 835,300 during the first nine months of this year, but the increase in the figure recorded during the first half of the year melted away in recent months, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) Bernhard Mattes said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Capacity utilization has declined, limited-term employment contracts are not being renewed, and the instrument of short-time work is being employed once again. We have to expect a decrease in the size of the core workforce," Mattes said.

VDA expect to see a decrease in the figures this year in comparison with the previous year's figure of 834,000 employees.

"A trend that will be more pronounced in 2020," Mattes added.

The group expects a decrease of 4.1 million, or 5 percent, in global passenger car sales, which is larger than that recorded during the financial crisis a decade ago. The slowdown in the Chinese market is largely to blame.

The VDA expects the world market for passenger cars to hit a volume of 78.9 million units in 2020, down 1 percent. The German market is forecast to grow by 4 percent to 3.6 million new registrations this year, it highest level this decade.

However, registrations are expected to fall by 4 percent to 3.4 million next year.