Trade union: Porsche to lay off most of its staff at battery-making unit

FRANKFURT: Porsche's battery-making business will lay off most of its workforce, a union representative told AFP on Thursday, in the latest blow to Europe's efforts to muscle in on electric cars.

About 200 people would be let go at the Cellforce Group subsidiary, IG Metall spokesman Kai Lamparter said, out of 286 employees in total.

"The authorities have been officially notified," Lamparter said. "It can be assumed that people will be given their notices on Monday."

Cellforce did not respond to AFP's request for comment and a Porsche spokeswoman said that she would not comment on reports of layoffs.

Batteries, usually the single most expensive part of an electric car, have become a key battleground for carmakers and the wider automotive sector.

But European firms have struggled to gain a foothold in the face of Chinese battery behemoths like CATL and BYD, fuelling fears for the long-term future of the continent's car industry.

Sweden's Northvolt, Europe's highest-profile battery maker, filed for bankruptcy in March and most of its assets are now being acquired by US rival Lyten.

Porsche said in April that it would abandon plans to ramp up battery-production at Cellforce, citing slower than expected demand for electric vehicles.

The Stuttgart-based sports car maker itself announced 1,900 job cuts in February before warning employees in July that its business model "no longer works in its current form" amid fierce competition in key market China.