- cross-posted to:
- workreform@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- workreform@lemmy.world
German carmaker warns of stagnation in the European sector amid news of deeper-than-expected action
The German carmaker Volkswagen is planning to shut at least three factories in its home country, lay off thousands of workers and cut pay by 10%, according to the company’s union.
The deeper-than-expected cuts come as the company faces weak sales and slow expansion in the electric vehicle (EV) sector amid tough competition from Chinese manufacturers.
“The board wants to close at least three factories in Germany,” the works council chief, Daniela Cavallo, told employees at VW’s headquarters in Wolfsburg on Monday. Its remaining manufacturing sites will reduce capacity, she said, citing information provided by management.
As Europe’s top economy suffers a crisis in manufacturing and fears of mass unemployment, VW is aiming for a fundamental restructuring to cut costs. It had initially warned last month that it had the equivalent of two factories of extra capacity in Germany.
Their plant in Chattanooga TN started making EV’s in 2022. My dad retired from VW and keeps tabs. In his opinion they still aren’t selling well.
They’re all mega expensive, arent’ they?
I feel like a huge mistake is making heavy, mega luxury EVs instead of pushing smaller-battery cars with a tiny (I’m talking like 2hp) backup generator.
$40,000 for ID4. I don’t know if that currently qualifies for the government rebates.
The problem is the Chinese market, which has been a huge market for VW. That’s where they failed to come up with a viable competitor to the cheap EVs that are selling like hotcakes in China. Yes, the U.S. sales have been lackluster but that’s not what is driving VW’s woes. The U.S. is a relatively small market for VW.