** FILE ** A DaimlerChrysler employee takes a Mercedes star, the emblem of Mercedes cars, to be mounted on the hood of a Mercedes automobile at the factory in Sindelfingen, southern Germany, in this Dec. 15, 2004 file photo. When Thomas Haebich started working on the assembly line at Daimler-Benz AG two decades ago, he thought he had a job for life. But he no longer feels he can count on it. On the contrary, today the 40-year-old auto worker often fears that he might lose his job at the car plant in the southern German town of Sindelfingen. He is convinced that on the long run German companies will not be able to compete with the emerging automobile industry in Asia. "Only last year, Daimler paid compensation for 3,000 workers because they wanted them to leave the company," Haebich said. "If you look ahead another 10 years, China will push forward on the automobile market in such an aggressive way that we will no longer be able to beat their cheap products." Haebich works weekly rotating shifts at the assembly line that makes the Mercedes E-class model, installing pedals and brake systems on up to 260 vehicles during a regular 8-hour workday. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle)