Saturday, July 7, 2012

German subsidiaries in America

German population density in the United States, 1872. Notice the indication that Omaha has a large density. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Week in Germany

Dear TWIG Readers,

(©dpa - Bildfunk)

German companies with subsidiairies in the United States include carmakers Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW, as well as, among others, Siemens; T-Mobile; Allianz; BASF; Bayer; ThyssenKrupp; Bosch; Bertelsmann; Adidas; SAP; Lufthansa; E.ON; Hapag-Lloyd; Stihl; Beiersdorf; Infineon; and Fraunhofer.

Another iconic German car manufacturer which also operates on this side of the Atlantic - Porsche - was on July 5 swallowed up in a deal several years in the making by VW, Germany's biggest carmaker.

"Together we are more capable than ever of becoming the best auto company on the planet," VW Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn proclaimed after the deal went through.

All of the aforementioned firms have been cited in past editions of a "Top 50 German Companies in the US" list published annually by the German American Chambers of Commerce.

Gains were made by a whopping 90 percent of German subsidiaires in the United States that made it on to the latest edition of this list, which draws upon figures from 2011.

"Their entities are investing in business expansions and new hires throughout the United States," the German American Chambers of Commerce (Deutsch-Amerikanische Handelskammern/AHK), based in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco, said in a May 2012 press release.

"Overall, the sales performance increased by 7.5% from $295 billion in 2010 to over $318 billion in 2011. The Top 50 created over 461,000 jobs, up from 427,000 in 2010," it added.

"Many of the Top 50 companies manufacture in the US for the US market. They also often source locally and thereby create local value. For example, BMW had invested $4.6 billion in its Spartanburg plant in 2010 and has subsequently sold 14.4% more cars in the US."

The upshot: German companies clearly create jobs and growth in the US. Recently, they have also gotten some pretty great press for the way they train highly skilled workers - a model that has been widely touted as worthy of consideration by companies all over the world, including here in the United States.

German firms thus bring a whole lot more than just "Fahrvergnügen" to America, although enjoying a sweet ride in a German-engineered car made right here in the USA is a nice fringe benefit of their setting up shop here.

Karen Carstens

Editor, The Week in Germany

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