Volkswagen is considering closing 4 assembly plants in Europe
- The Volkswagen Group has announced plans to cut up to 100,000 jobs worldwide , twice as many as initially planned, and reduce its production capacity by one million vehicles per year (including 734,000 units in Germany), by closing or threatening to close four assembly plants in Germany, which is new, as until now the carmaker had refused to close any factories.
- This tightening of its austerity plan clearly shows the poor health of the Volkswagen Group (particularly within the Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche brands), which is causing concern even in the State of Lower Saxony, which holds 20% of the voting rights in the group and suggests that "Volkswagen's future will not be won by constantly focusing on new factory closures or ever-larger workforce reduction programs."
- The Volkswagen factories threatened with closure would be those of Emden (historical site of the VW Passat which were relocated to Bratislava in Slovakia), Hanover (historical site of the VW Kombi which were relocated to Ford in Turkey), Zwickau (historical site of the Trabant converted into the production of battery electric cars) and Neckarsulm (historical site of the large Audi A6-A7-A8, factory now with significant overcapacity).
- The Volkswagen Group is now considering doing what other carmakers are doing in Europe: producing Chinese cars in its own European factories. It's worth noting that in China, the Volkswagen Group is also facing significant overcapacity due to declining sales in the Chinese market.