In Wolfsburg They no longer hide the latent concern about the collective march. German giant addressed his workers through the financial director of the brand to ensure that “missing” at the moment compared to the period before the pandemic sales of 500,000 vehicleswhich is equivalent to the production of two of its factories.
“The market (for this production) no longer exists,” said Arno Antlitz at the headquarters in Wolfsburg (central Germany), according to German media.
The meeting with staff was called to take stock of the group’s cost-cutting plans, which, according to what it announced last Monday, must be further strengthened and no longer exclude staff layoffs or site closures.
In a video addressed to employees, the group’s head, Olivier Blumeindicated that the the economic environment has deteriorated and the automotive industry in Europe is in a situation “demanding” situationwhile Germany in particular continues to fall competitiveness.
“In this context, we must “Act now in a coherent and collective manner”he said in the message, partially broadcast on public television.
For his part, Stephan Weil, Prime Minister of the State of Lower Saxonywhere the group’s headquarters are located, told the media that there is a “consensus” that the company must be “more profitable”.
However, to achieve this goal, there are different ways and the closure of a factory – which has never happened in Germany so far – is the “last measure” that could be taken into account and is not necessary at the moment, Weil said.
The works council has already announced “fierce resistance” in caseManagement decides to proceed with possible layoffs or closures.
In the first half of the year Volkswagen earned 14 percent less than in the same period in 2023.
Last year, the group announced a plan to reduce your costs of at least 10 billion euros until 2026.
