Sandie Seward
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Karmann Ghia files for insolvency.Karmann Ghia, the car body specialist company, filed for insolvency today. The German group is now so short of money that it cannot follow through a massive restructuring programme agreed last autumn, when it planned to lay off half its 4,460 workers.
The Osnabrück-based business said: “The sheer unexpected drop in revenue led to the inability to finance the social plan that was agreed with labour representatives.”
The car group is probably best-known for its sleek-bodied version of the VW Beetle manufactured between 1955 and 1974 and it also developed the retractable hardtop that was first used by Mercedes-Benz.
Karmann Ghia is the latest in a string of casualties among contract motor companies that have fallen victim to the increasing trend among large carmakers to bring back work in-house. The company finished its last work for Audi in February and a contract for Mercedes is due to end next month.
Karmann Ghia said it hoped to find a buyer and that it had virtually no debt and enough money to continue operating. It said it had filed for bankruptcy because it couldn’t afford the cost of the planned lay-offs.
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