Europe’s largest car manufacturer is in big trouble, the core brand VW Passenger Cars is considered to be chronically low-yielding. Following the announced austerity measures, there is now a change in top management.
In the midst of the crisis, the car manufacturer Volkswagen is replacing the finance director at its core brand VW Passenger Cars. The current finance director Patrik Andreas Mayer is to vacate the position in Wolfsburg for the finance director of the VW subsidiary Seat, David Powels, as a company spokeswoman confirmed upon request.
Manager Magazine had previously reported that Mayer is moving to Seat in Spain and will take over Powel’s duties there. Mayer has been CFO at the heart of Europe’s largest car company since October 2022.
The carmaker is currently in great difficulties, and its core brand VW Passenger Cars is considered to be chronically low-profit. Last week, the company announced that it wanted to terminate the job security agreement it had agreed with its employees until 2029. Plants in Germany are being scrutinized in order to reduce capacity and cut costs, and redundancies are looming.
According to the management board, a savings program that was already launched in 2023 with the reduction of administrative positions through severance payments and part-time retirement is no longer sufficient in the difficult situation in the industry. There are no concrete details of further savings measures so far. The works council and IG Metall have announced considerable resistance.
According to information from “Manager Magazine”, Mayer’s downfall was that in his search for ways to save money, he wanted to at least partially use the so-called innovation funds. These had been agreed with the employees for future projects.
Source: Stern
