In order to reduce costs and save 4.3 billion dollars, Volkswagen has unveiled a plan based on which it will close three plants of the company in Germany. This decision is a big change for Volkswagen and even exposes the German heritage of the famous car maker; A brand that has played an important role in the German car industry since its establishment.
Volkswagen’s move to close three plants comes as the company grapples with economic pressures, including rising energy costs in Europe, fierce competition from Chinese automakers and declining global demand for electric vehicles. The aforementioned developments could affect the production of the popular Golf GTI and R models produced at the Wolfsburg plant.
Currently, car production in Germany has high costs; So that the average salary of a Volkswagen employee in Wolfsburg reaches about 80,000 dollars per year, while in the Mexico factory, company employees receive only 20,000 dollars per year. This difference has led the company’s management to cut costs and even stop raising wages for two years.
According to AutoBlog, Volkswagen’s recent decisions have been heavily criticized by German labor unions; Especially the IG Metall union, which has threatened to strike in December. According to the announcement Thorsten Greger The union’s negotiator, Volkswagen’s board, must consider the consequences of its decisions.
Although Volkswagen’s US plants will not be directly affected by the shutdown, and production of best-selling models such as the Atlas will continue, the effects of the restructuring on the future of the German plants, and in particular the Golf line, have drawn a lot of attention.
The changes in Volkswagen’s strategies occur while other European automakers have taken various measures to reduce their costs and the German government is under pressure due to the economic situation and the challenges facing the country’s manufacturing sector.
