Berlin. Volkswagen has informed employee representatives that it intends to close at least three plants in Germany, the head of the automaker’s employee council said Monday.
Daniela Cavallo reported at a meeting with Volkswagen workers at the company’s headquarters in Wolfsburg that management also plans cuts elsewhere, and vowed to resist the plans, German news agency Dpa reported. Cavallo stressed that “all German VW plants are affected by these plans. No one is safe.”
The company did not provide details of its plans. But Chief of Staff Gunnar Kilian said in a statement that “the fact is that the situation is serious and the responsibility of the negotiating partners is enormous,” Dpa reported.
Volkswagen said in early September that auto industry headwinds mean it cannot rule out plant closures in Germany, and must abandon a labor protection promise in place since 1994 that would have banned layoffs until 2029. CEO Oliver Blume, cited the entry of new competitors into European markets, the deterioration of the country’s position as a manufacturing center and the need to “act decisively.”
“Without comprehensive measures to restore competitiveness, we will not be able to afford significant investments in the future,” Kilian said on Monday. He added that management will stick to the principle of first discussing Volkswagen’s future with its internal negotiating partners.
Wage negotiations between Volkswagen and the union will resume on Wednesday.
European automakers face increased competition from low-cost Chinese electric vehicles. Volkswagen said last month that the company’s half-year results indicated it will miss its target of 10 billion euros ($10.8 billion) in cost savings by 2026.
Volkswagen has about 120,000 employees in Germany, where it has 10 plants, six of them in the northern state of Lower Saxony, including Wolfsburg.
Industrial union IG Metall sharply criticized VW’s closure plans. “We hope that, instead of fantasies of cuts, Volkswagen and its management will define sustainable concepts for the future at the negotiating table,” said regional union leader Thorsten Gröger.
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