MANNHEIM/NEU-ULM (dpa-AFX) - When it became known last year that Daimler Truck wanted to relocate part of the production of its subsidiary Evobus abroad, there was still great horror among the trade union and parts of politics. On Wednesday, the company and the General Works Council of Evobus have now presented concrete plans and an agreement - and received praise for it.

According to the statement, the company had agreed with the central works council on a "vision for the future to secure competitiveness and the German locations in the long term." At the same time, around 150 million euros are to be invested in the plants in Mannheim and Neu-Ulm by the end of 2030.

According to the company, the Mannheim location is to become the competence center for e-city buses in the future. From 2024, only electric city buses are to be produced here. In addition, the production of components will be stepped up. Neu-Ulm will remain the center of excellence for coaches and will continue to be the only site to manufacture Setra brand coaches.

The aim of the "structural changes" is to permanently reduce costs in Germany and thus ensure competitiveness. In addition to the relocation of the body shop to the Czech Republic, cooperation within the European production network is to be expanded. In the future, the number of vehicles will be flexibly distributed depending on the order situation.

The mix of all measures should gradually lead to more cost savings, Till Oberwörder, head of Daimler Truck's bus division, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. He justified the measures with new competitors in e-mobility and a tighter market situation, which is why the company needs to position itself better in terms of costs. Around 100 million euros a year are to be saved by around 2030.

By 2028, the body store in the bus business for the Mannheim, Neu-Ulm and Ligny-en-Barrois (France) locations is to move completely to Holysov in the Czech Republic. To this end, the General Works Council has been able to extend the existing safeguarding of the future for Evobus employees in Germany from 2024 to the end of 2033. This means that compulsory redundancies are ruled out until then.

According to Oberwörder, 650 employees work in the body shop in Mannheim. In the first phase of the relocation, which is starting immediately, 250 employees will initially be affected. These are now to take on other tasks and be qualified for them. No employees in Neu-Ulm are affected.

The relocation of the body shop abroad must be accepted, explained Bruno Buschbacher, Chairman of the General Works Council of Evobus. This was the only way the company could regain the competitiveness it needed. A blockade would have "only brought more uncertainty in the coming years and ultimately meant dying in installments." He emphasized to dpa that a cap on unit numbers and employment at the sites was now off the table. "If the orders are there, growth can also be generated in the workforce," Buschbacher said.

Baden-Württemberg's Economics Minister Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut (CDU) spoke of a "very good result" that testified to the shared responsibility of employers and employees. "This is good news for Mannheim as an industrial location," also announced Mannheim's SPD members of the state parliament Stefan Fulst-Blei and Boris Weirauch./rwi/DP/tih