- 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.
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Some context from someone who lives in germany:
VW has for quite a while now failed to read the writing on the wall and join in on the growing market for electronic cars. All the while getting subsidies from the german government.
Now they cant compete anymore and even their regular cars are way to expensive for a lot of germans to buy. And the chinese manufacturers are pushing them even further out of a market they failed to enter by refusing to innovate years ago.
A lot of this reads over here like hostage taking: They want more subsidies for their failing company model, or they leave the country.
Failing to read the market… or shareholders wanting dividends rather than invest it in the companies future?
Alternatively, the German government nationalizes VW to keep the jobs, fires upper management and replace them with people that get the orders to make cheap/affordable EVs for the masses.
Fuck the shareholders.
Reminds me of what we go through with the big 3 in the us
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.
I wonder where I’ve heard that before but I have NO fucKIng ideA. (I’m just being cryptic for fun)
Also, well, they illegally lied to us. Now being surprised (Pikachu face) I bought a Chinese car, I can have that for cheap.
Didn’t the US VW union just jam through a huge raise?
Don’t see them listed on the cutting board.
Let’s see how much the CEOs pay goes up by…
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The Guardian - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)
Information for The Guardian:
Wiki: reliable - There is consensus that The Guardian is generally reliable. The Guardian’s op-eds should be handled with WP:RSOPINION. Some editors believe The Guardian is biased or opinionated for politics. See also: The Guardian blogs.
Wiki: mixed - Most editors say that The Guardian blogs should be treated as newspaper blogs or opinion pieces due to reduced editorial oversight. Check the bottom of the article for a “blogposts” tag to determine whether the page is a blog post or a non-blog article. See also: The Guardian.
MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: Medium - Factual Reporting: Mixed - United Kingdom
