Volkswagen Brand Manager Schaefer: We are no longer competitive as a brand

The German automotive giant Volkswagen continues to stagnate and the company is starting to implement cost-saving measures, which should save around 10 billion euros. Part of the austerity measures involves layoffs, which the employees themselves have been informed about, while Thomas Schaefer, head of the VW brand, has made a harsh statement – Volkswagen is not competitive at the moment.

The automaker is currently in talks with the workers’ union about how to better implement austerity measures as part of a broader effort to boost efficiency and shift to electric car production.

“With the many existing structures, processes and high costs, we are no longer competitive as a Volkswagen brand,” Schaefer said during an internal meeting at the head office in Wolfsburg, and this message was also published on Volkswagen’s internal information network, citing Reuters.

Employees will not be simply thrown out of work on the street, but Volkswagen plans to reach an agreement on retirement. It is true that the release of employees is only part of the planned measures and by no means the biggest one – the largest part of the planned 10 billion savings will be made up by other measures within the company. What exactly will be done is planned to be fully defined by the end of this year.

The crisis in the Volkswagen concern has subsided significantly in the last few months – the number of shifts in the factories is reduced, part-time employees are released, in response to the low demand for their electric machines. The problem has particularly painfully affected the Volkswagen brand itself. The situation is not improved by the fact that various development projects have been significantly delayed – a new platform has to be waited for several more years, problems in software development and development continue, VW is lagging behind its competitors and facing the entry of cheaper, competitive Chinese automakers into Europe.