Deutschland for Sale, Part 2: The Hollowing-Out Test — Does Foreign Takeover Actually Empty Out German Manufacturing?
Foreign buyers of German companies always promise to keep the sites and jobs. But in Zweibrücken, a 63-year-old plastics maker was closed within six months of a Swedish takeover — machines hauled out, 60 workers let go. This is the hollowing-out scenario on camera. Yet for every Schliessmeyer, big deals like Covestro and EBM-Papst keep production in place. The real insight: foreign ownership doesn't cause offshoring — it just removes the last line of defence against it. The question isn't whether German manufacturing gets hollowed out. It's who will be holding the keys when the next downturn arrives. #GermanIndustry #HollowingOut #Deindustrialization #Offshoring #Mittelstand #ForeignInvestment #PrivateEquity #GermanManufacturing