Depends on where you work in the industry, there's a huge level of division of work. Upstream departments should work more on new products and marketing etc. But a little more downstream, there isn't much todo if not enough cars are ordered.

The intention of Kurzarbeitergeld is to prevent large layoffs. I honestly can't tell if that makes sense in the long run, but it seems reasonable for a political party trying to make it to the next term.