The future of German trailer manufacturer Kögel will be decided in the next two to three weeks according to a company source. Kögel, Germany's third biggest trailer builder, filed for insolvency in August after the market for new trailers collapsed this year.
The company was particularly exposed to Eastern Europe and it saw demand for its products fall by more than 90%.
MT understands that Kögel will gain new investment over the coming weeks allowing it to continue in business. However, it will be reborn as a much smaller enterprise, shedding at least 50% of its 800-strong workforce.
Although its manufacturing operations in Poland and the Czech Republic and sister company Chereau in France were not hit by the failure, they still require new investment to continue.
The new funding will come either from another trailer-maker, or from an unrelated sector, according to MT's source, although he ruled out financial institutions from making an investment.