German Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economy and Climate Protection Robert Habeck called on the management of German car giant Volkswagen (VW) to refrain from closing plants. “Production sites must be preserved,”, DPA agency quotes Habek. According to the minister, the reduction of the expenditure structure does not mean that he can “cold-blooded“ ignore the workforce. At the same time, he noted that he wants to help Volkswagen survive this cost-cutting period without closing plants.
However, the head of the Ministry of Economy pointed out that the government's ability to support Volkswagen is limited. “A significant part of the tasks must be solved by Volkswagen itself”, Habek explained. “It is the company's job,” he said during a visit to the VW plant in Emden.
In addition, Habeck said the German government plans to introduce tax incentives for users of electric vehicles used for business purposes. He also invited representatives of the industry of the so-called automotive summit on September 23.
On September 19, Manager Magazin reported that Volkswagen plans to cut up to 30,000 jobs in Germany in the medium term. Earlier, VW CFO Arno Antlitz indicated that two plants may be at risk. The automaker itself could not confirm this information. Negotiations between Volkswagen and the IG Metall trade union, which represents workers' interests, will begin on September 25.
On September 10, the Bild newspaper reported that Volkswagen management had ended job guarantees for its employees that had been written into their employment contracts since 1994, opening the way for possible layoffs of staff. On September 2, the DPA indicated that Volkswagen would allow plant closures and layoffs as part of a cost-saving program adopted in 2023. From the board's perspective, a major restructuring of the Volkswagen AG group's brands is due. In addition, management believes that the cost savings targets set cannot be achieved through pre-planned job cuts through partial employee retirements and one-time payments.