Volkswagen CEO: At least one factory must be closed to recover

Volkswagen Group faces a historic decision to close its factories in Germany. Volkswagen brand CEO Thomas Schaefer gave an interview revealing the difficulty of the situation the company is in.

Schaefer, German newspaper World on Sunday In his interview with , he said that they foresee that the company’s restructuring process will take three to four years and that achieving this goal will not be possible without significant cuts.

“We need to close at least one factory”

There are two German factories that are on the agenda for closure. One of them is the large facility in Osnabrück. This factory produces the Porsche 718 Cayman and Boxster models, whose production will end at the end of 2024. Volkswagen T-Roc Cabriolet is also produced here, but production of this model will end in 2025.

The second facility is the Transparent Factory in Dresden. This factory, which is a smaller facility, produces the ID.3 model. However, Dresden has a low-volume production capacity compared to the primary ID.3 production facility in Zwickau.

There may be a strike in December

Factory closures are expected to come with layoffs. According to Schaefer, natural workforce loss and early retirement packages will not be enough to save the company. Employees who remain with the company, including executives and board members, will face pay cuts. According to Reuters, board salaries have already been cut by 5% since the beginning of the year.

Volkswagen has never closed a factory in Germany in its 87-year history. Since the possibility was first raised, local unions and leaders of the company’s works council have been working hard to prevent any closure. As part of these efforts, a strike is planned for December if the automaker decides to close one or more facilities.

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