Employment prospects within the German manufacturing sector have been given a major boost after Daimler announced it has no plans to scale down its operations in the south-west of the country.

On the back of the economic downturn, and with a number of other leading auto manufacturers having laid off workers over the past year, it had been feared that jobs were at risk at the Mercedes-Benz site in Singelfingen.

This apprehension increased when Daimler opted to move production of its C-Class vehicles to China, South Africa and the US as global sales of premium cars remain stunted.

However, boss Dieter Zetsche has now confirmed that the German plant will continue to make the Mercedes E and S-Class cars for at least the next ten years, with this set to safeguard 37,000 positions and create at least 2,000 new jobs.

He explained that such a decision "is the best way to conserve sustainable jobs in Germany", according to AFP.

At the same time, manufacturing jobs in Canada have also been boosted with news that Toyota is to create 800 new positions at its Ontario production plant.