Car crisis
VW boss on austerity measures: The goal is set, the path is flexible
It is clear that VW has to save a lot. Plant closures and layoffs are being discussed. According to CEO Blume, the path to the savings targets can be “flexibly designed”.
VW CEO Oliver Blume sees no alternative to tough austerity measures at Volkswagen. “The goal for cost and capacity adjustment is in place,” he told “Bild am Sonntag”. Only the path there can be “flexibly designed”. The costs in Germany have to come down massively,” said Blume. VW is too expensive at home. “Our labor costs here, for example, are often more than twice as high as the average at our European locations.”
In the ongoing collective negotiations, the car manufacturer wants, among other things, to reduce collective wages by ten percent. One desired measure: anniversary bonuses for long-standing employees should be eliminated. According to the works council, more than 10,000 employees are about to receive anniversary bonuses in the coming years.
No information on factory closures
Volkswagen recently terminated the job security after more than 30 years; Redundancies for operational reasons would be possible from the middle of next year. According to the works council, at least three plants in Germany could also be closed. VW has not yet provided any information about this. VW employs around 120,000 people in Germany.
Management sees the car manufacturer’s competitiveness at risk. According to Blume, there is also a need for action in development and sales costs as well as in other cost areas. VW is actually doing well, said the CEO. Group sales are currently slightly higher than the previous year. However, the operating result is under enormous pressure after nine months and has fallen by more than 20 percent.
Districts fear VW cuts
From the perspective of the district council, the possible cuts could lead to problems in the countryside. “The current developments at VW are a real shock not only for Germany as a business location as a whole, but also for the automotive supplier companies, most of which are located in rural areas,” said association President Achim Brötel (CDU) to the newspapers of the Funke media group .
In a Civey survey for the news portal “web.de”, 61 percent of those surveyed rejected government intervention against factory closures. 25 percent were in favor. Leading FDP politicians called in “Welt” for government representatives to withdraw from the VW supervisory board. Lower Saxony holds 20 percent of the voting rights. Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) and his deputy Julia Willie Hamburg (Greens) sit on the control committee for the state. The country has the right to veto important decisions.
dpa
Source: Stern
