VW is considering closing some factories in its home country for the first time in the German automaker’s 87-year history

VW has aging, inefficient manufacturing lines in Europe. And those are not operating at capacity; asset under utilization is expensive! Procurement issues were made worse by the Russia Ukraine war.
Poor margins leave little room to move.
 
Audi brussels is going to close aswell, They are making the Q8 e-tron there but demand has plummeted. Apparently a Chinese manufacturer is interested in the site. I have never heard about NIO though.
 
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I had a meeting this morning with a colleague in Germany and I asked him about this.

He said the VW closings are all going to be small, minor facilities. Not a big deal.

Don't get me wrong...he is very down on the German situation overall. But he thinks the VW thing is not a major deal (for now!).

This fellow lives in Frankfurt.
 
tarbe said:
I had a meeting this morning with a colleague in Germany and I asked him about this.

He said the VW closings are all going to be small, minor facilities. Not a big deal.

Don't get me wrong...he is very down on the German situation overall. But he thinks the VW thing is not a major deal (for now!).

This fellow lives in Frankfurt.
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I've read that 15,000 VW workers may be RIFed. VW is Germany's biggest employer but demand for their product in Europe is weakening. For us in the USA, we sometimes forget how big VW is in worldwide sales.
I
 
Allaneddie said:
I've read that 15,000 VW workers may be RIFed. VW is Germany's biggest employer but demand for their product in Europe is weakening. For us in the USA, we sometimes forget how big VW is in worldwide sales.
I
Click to expand...
If that number is correct, that is a big deal in my book!!
 
Dave Hess said:
I posted a similar thread last week and it got shut down when people started talking politics.

VW Group is very big and that means lots of bloat and some people making big money to do nothing.

The global economy is slowing and new car buyers preferences have changed.
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Hopefully politics doesn't do the same here. I agree with your other points.
 
15,000 is a lot, but it won’t be 15,000 real workers. A number of people close to retirement will take retirement and get bridged - they would be leaving soon anyway. Some people will be leaving on their own, so they just won’t replace those people, or they’ll transfer someone else into it. My guess is half that Number actually asked to leave. Still a lot but comparatively not as much.
 
Well VW shot themselves in the foot. At least 6 years ago VW was pushing EVs on all fronts. VW spent a lot of effort and resources lobbying for EV in not only Germany but also the EU and some in the USA. They were even anti hybrid in their effort much to the dismay of Toyota. A case of telling you the consumer what to buy from big business. The old saying "be careful what you wish for" comes to mind here.
 
SC Maintenance said:
15,000 is a lot, but it won’t be 15,000 real workers. A number of people close to retirement will take retirement and get bridged - they would be leaving soon anyway. Some people will be leaving on their own, so they just won’t replace those people, or they’ll transfer someone else into it. My guess is half that Number actually asked to leave. Still a lot but comparatively not as much.
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I think what VW is proposing is actually closing 2 entire plants. I agree that may mean only 7500 would be asked to leave with the other 7500 coming from people leaving or retiring on their own. All ways to have a RIF.
 
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Hirev said:
Well VW shot themselves in the foot. At least 6 years ago VW was pushing EVs on all fronts. VW spent a lot of effort and resources lobbying for EV in not only Germany but also the EU and some in the USA. They were even anti hybrid in their effort much to the dismay of Toyota. A case of telling you the consumer what to buy from big business. The old saying "be careful what you wish for" comes to mind here.
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That's what you do when you receive hundreds of millions of Euros in govt subsidies after you've been caught cheating on emissions.
 
Hirev said:
Well VW shot themselves in the foot. At least 6 years ago VW was pushing EVs on all fronts. VW spent a lot of effort and resources lobbying for EV in not only Germany but also the EU and some in the USA. They were even anti hybrid in their effort much to the dismay of Toyota. A case of telling you the consumer what to buy from big business. The old saying "be careful what you wish for" comes to mind here.
Click to expand...
agree
 
Dave Hess said:
I posted a similar thread last week and it got shut down when people started talking politics.

VW Group is very big and that means lots of bloat and some people making big money to do nothing.

The global economy is slowing and new car buyers preferences have changed.
Click to expand...

VW employees in Germany are striking and will not take 10% pay cut.

Germany: VW workers announce second strike as cuts loom​


https://www.dw.com/en/germany-vw-workers-announce-second-strike-as-cuts-loom/a-70978152
 
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