FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Daimler on Friday announced at least 10,000 job cuts across the globe over the next three years after reaching an agreement on its plans with labour unions.

It marks the third announcement on cost cuts this week by a major German car company as carmakers grapple with huge investments into cleaner and self-driving technologies while demand in China, their biggest market, is falling and a trade war between Washington and Beijing is curbing economic growth.

“The automotive industry is in the middle of the biggest transformation in its history,” Daimler said in a statement.

Daimler said management had reached an agreement with labour on a variety of measures to cut costs and jobs, including expanding part-time retirement and a severance program to be offered in Germany. The company is also cutting 10% of worldwide management positions.

It first announced plans to increase competitiveness in November, including cutting staff costs by around 1.4 billion euros ($1.54 billion) by the end of 2022.

The announcement comes days after Volkswagen’s luxury car unit Audi said it would cut one in ten jobs, freeing up billions of euros to fund its shift towards electric vehicle production.

Also this week, BMW said that its management and labour had reached an agreement on measures to reduce costs that avoids “drastic measures”.

Car suppliers Continental and Osram have also recently announced staff and cost cuts.

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