Berliner Boersenzeitung - VW bosses defend possible plant closures at stormy meeting

EUR -
AED 4.325629
AFN 81.077607
ALL 97.693511
AMD 450.125122
ANG 2.107984
AOA 1080.081229
ARS 1482.295779
AUD 1.780778
AWG 2.123061
AZN 2.005254
BAM 1.957674
BBD 2.369999
BDT 143.076952
BGN 1.956897
BHD 0.443974
BIF 3498.307941
BMD 1.177842
BND 1.499648
BOB 8.110798
BRL 6.498389
BSD 1.173723
BTN 101.413641
BWP 15.664994
BYN 3.841389
BYR 23085.71137
BZD 2.357787
CAD 1.602449
CDF 3399.253219
CHF 0.932556
CLF 0.02848
CLP 1117.253838
CNY 8.43283
CNH 8.41973
COP 4756.186571
CRC 592.967582
CUC 1.177842
CUP 31.212824
CVE 110.369239
CZK 24.582219
DJF 208.799861
DKK 7.463519
DOP 71.048006
DZD 152.682591
EGP 57.822879
ERN 17.667636
ETB 160.375209
FJD 2.631536
FKP 0.871252
GBP 0.867233
GEL 3.192034
GGP 0.871252
GHS 12.265584
GIP 0.871252
GMD 84.80412
GNF 10183.747763
GTQ 9.008585
GYD 245.432842
HKD 9.245079
HNL 30.734419
HRK 7.534778
HTG 154.016115
HUF 398.568913
IDR 19169.26755
ILS 3.929771
IMP 0.871252
INR 101.668959
IQD 1537.571746
IRR 49601.891496
ISK 142.200568
JEP 0.871252
JMD 188.28022
JOD 0.835117
JPY 171.978536
KES 151.588655
KGS 102.911748
KHR 4704.463115
KMF 495.279708
KPW 1060.119461
KRW 1612.101392
KWD 0.359313
KYD 0.978128
KZT 631.679273
LAK 25302.218985
LBP 105171.472847
LKR 354.108949
LRD 235.33426
LSL 20.611429
LTL 3.477863
LVL 0.712465
LYD 6.347075
MAD 10.555849
MDL 19.847998
MGA 5184.962985
MKD 61.619243
MMK 2472.409912
MNT 4224.185072
MOP 9.489583
MRU 46.585591
MUR 53.414953
MVR 18.142985
MWK 2035.248115
MXN 21.834454
MYR 4.971086
MZN 75.334505
NAD 20.611254
NGN 1793.877325
NIO 43.191342
NOK 11.897351
NPR 162.262316
NZD 1.945384
OMR 0.452876
PAB 1.173728
PEN 4.183705
PGK 4.933723
PHP 66.690025
PKR 334.159053
PLN 4.252424
PYG 8791.90069
QAR 4.278941
RON 5.069548
RSD 117.129321
RUB 92.342865
RWF 1696.623988
SAR 4.418897
SBD 9.758536
SCR 16.979453
SDG 707.292535
SEK 11.190486
SGD 1.502049
SHP 0.925599
SLE 27.031864
SLL 24698.771209
SOS 670.742026
SRD 42.928827
STD 24378.959974
STN 24.523474
SVC 10.26983
SYP 15314.260384
SZL 20.60172
THB 37.851734
TJS 11.261832
TMT 4.134227
TND 3.426536
TOP 2.758623
TRY 47.649586
TTD 7.965557
TWD 34.485457
TZS 3068.279255
UAH 49.079378
UGX 4213.997812
USD 1.177842
UYU 47.184965
UZS 14911.272894
VES 141.66311
VND 30789.978619
VUV 141.412703
WST 3.104897
XAF 656.585476
XAG 0.030176
XAU 0.000349
XCD 3.183178
XCG 2.115325
XDR 0.816582
XOF 656.585476
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.801276
ZAR 20.655473
ZMK 10601.994869
ZMW 27.261599
ZWL 379.264778
  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • CMSC

    -0.0400

    22.43

    -0.18%

  • CMSD

    -0.0300

    22.89

    -0.13%

  • RYCEF

    0.2000

    13.5

    +1.48%

  • AZN

    2.5200

    73

    +3.45%

  • GSK

    1.0100

    38.03

    +2.66%

  • SCS

    0.2100

    10.68

    +1.97%

  • RIO

    0.2900

    64.62

    +0.45%

  • RBGPF

    0.9700

    68

    +1.43%

  • NGG

    -1.6300

    72.65

    -2.24%

  • BTI

    0.1500

    52.37

    +0.29%

  • BP

    0.1900

    32.71

    +0.58%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    13.21

    0%

  • RELX

    0.4100

    53.09

    +0.77%

  • BCC

    1.2000

    88.35

    +1.36%

  • VOD

    -0.0200

    11.3

    -0.18%

  • BCE

    0.2200

    24.6

    +0.89%

VW bosses defend possible plant closures at stormy meeting
VW bosses defend possible plant closures at stormy meeting / Photo: Moritz Frankenberg - POOL/AFP

VW bosses defend possible plant closures at stormy meeting

Volkswagen executives defended plans to consider the unprecedentedclosure of factories in Germany during a heated meeting Wednesday with thousands of staff, saying falling sales had hit it hard.

Text size:

Several thousand employees fearful about their future protested at VW's historic headquarters ahead of the gathering, waving banners and blowing whistles.

Arno Antlitz, Volkswagen's chief financial officer, said car sales in Europe were still far below pre-pandemic levels.

For Europe's top carmaker, this meant a loss of around 500,000 vehicle sales a year, "the equivalent of around two plants," he said.

"The market is simply no longer there," he told the meeting, attended by some 25,000 staff, with some following on screens outside.

"We need to increase productivity and reduce costs. We still have a year, maybe two years, to turn things around," he added, without giving further details of the savings plan.

The comments from the finance chief in Wolfsburg came two days after the shock announcement was first made to staff in an internal memo.

Volkswagen last year announced plans for a 10-billion-euro ($11-billion) savings programme and flagged cuts to its workforce over the coming years to improve profitability.

But the group said these further measures were now required after recent results disappointed.

However, the move to slash costs at one of Germany's best-known companies has alarmed government officials and set Volkswagen on a collision course with the unions and its powerful works council.

- 'Fierce resistance' -

Daniela Cavallo, works council chairwoman, warned VW's management would face "fierce resistance from the workforce", promising there would be no site closures on her watch.

The group "is not in difficulty because of its German sites and the costs of German staff," but because "the management board is not doing its job", she told the meeting.

"We're being dismantled in secret," VW worker Axel Wenzlaff, 59, told AFP on his way into the factory in Wolfsburg, expressing concern for colleagues who might be affected.

"They should start with those at the top, throw out the people who are responsible," Wenzlaff said.

The idea of possible plant closures in Germany and active cuts was "something completely new", said Michael Gadow, 66, a former toolmaker at the group, where a job is often thought to be for life.

"It is certainly concerning for many employees who otherwise feel they work in a very safe factory," Gadow said of possible reductions to the headcount at the group.

In Belgium, workers at the group's factory in Brussels went on strike Wednesday over threats to the future of the plant.

But a site closure in Germany, where Volkswagen employs some 300,000 people across its different brands would be a first in the 87-year history of the group.

- 'A car country' -

The trouble at Volkswagen, which has struggled with the transition to electric vehicles and competition from overseas rivals, is a heavy blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government at a time the domestic economy was already struggling.

"Germany must remain a car country" Labour Minister Hubertus Heil said Wednesday following a meeting of the cabinet where ministers agreed new support for electric cars.

He called on VW's management to "ensure that a reasonable and socially acceptable solution is found and that VW remains strong".

Scholz himself was keeping "detailed" tabs on the situation, his spokesman said at a press conference, adding that the group was responsible for finding a solution together with workers.

"Volkswagen blood still flows in my veins," said retired auto worker Eckard Siewertsen, 73, one of three generations in his family to have worked for Volkswagen.

Despite a number of crises at Volkswagen over the years, "we have always managed to get back on our feet", Siewertsen told AFP in Wolfsburg.

"I'm working under the assumption that it will work this time, too."

(T.Renner--BBZ)