As the sector with the highest number of jobs, the automotive and supplier industry represents the core of the regional economy and therefore plays a key role in shaping life and work in the region.

However, the region is facing considerable challenges as a result of the mobility and energy transition. The structural change towards digitalization, decarbonization and adaptation to demographic developments presents companies, especially SMEs, with considerable challenges. The foreseeable phase-out of the combustion engine by 2035 and the switch to electric drives will have a profound impact on production processes and employment structures. The IW Consult study (2021 on behalf of the BMWI/BMWK) ranks the economic region of Kassel and the district of Kassel among the five regions in Germany most affected by the transformation in the automotive industry. Ranked 29th out of 40 nationwide locations in the assessment of the prerequisites for developing a successful transformation strategy, the authors of the study attest that the region has a great need for action in this regard.

Over 20,000 employees subject to social insurance contributions are directly attributable to the OEM manufacturers' plant locations alone. According to calculations by the University of Kassel, these can be multiplied by a factor of 3.5 to a total of around 70,000 employees in the surrounding small and medium-sized supplier companies in the areas of metal products and processing, component manufacturing and mechatronics as well as mechanical engineering and toolmaking.