FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The Mercedes-Benz works council expects the German car manufacturer to dole out a record-high bonus to its employees while anticipating bumper profits for the financial year, the works council chief said in an interview published on Friday.
"So far, annual profit-sharing has been limited to a maximum of 6,450 euros ($6,617). This cap should be abolished," Ergun Luemali told Reuters.
"We need a new calculation formula so that the workforce can now share in the increased profit if the return is kept at a significantly higher level," he said.
Last year, Mercedes paid 6,000 euros to 100,000 of its employees, compared to 3,000 euros for Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p) workers and up to 9,000 euros for BMW workers.
According to analyst forecasts, Mercedes-Benz's operating profit will increase by almost a fifth, to 19 billion euros, in 2022.
Mercedes-Benz raised its full-year profit forecast last month as strong demand for luxury cars and cost savings offset the supply chain bottlenecks that have hampered industry output this year.
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