Saturday, February 8, 2025

Laying off 35,000 – car giant must save even more

Volkswagen is so financially pressured that 35,000 layoffs by 2030 may not be enough, media reports.

It's no secret that Volkswagen can't keep its finances together. Billions are missing from its accounts. For the same reason, 35,000 employees are to be laid off by 2030.

At the same time, Volkswagen will close several factories in Germany, something that has never happened before.

According to Reuters, several Chinese car brands may be interested in taking over the factories to avoid punitive tariffs on electric cars. But even with the Chinese money, the accounts look blood red.

At least that's what the German media outlet Handelsblatt thinks.

Sources familiar with Volkswagen's plans tell the media that further cuts are needed, even though the car brand has just spent weeks negotiating the many layoffs and factory closures.

The sources believe that Volkswagen will soon have to cut costs even further. The management in Wolfsburg itself has so far not commented on the story.

But insiders tell Handelsblatt that Volkswagen has already postponed its profit target by three to four years. The Germans were supposed to earn at least 6.5 percent on every car that rolls off the assembly line by 2026.

Volkswagen's chairman Oliver Blume has also confirmed that they will not reject Chinese interest in the factories that are to be closed.

However, VW is far from the only brand in the group that is closing factories to find money. Audi will leave its factory in Belgium in February. And it will not be reopened, despite negotiations with, among others, Chinese brands.

About 3,500 employees are now out of work. The situation in Belgium has led to several protests, with employees stealing car keys and burning tires in front of the factory. But that hasn't changed Audi's mind.

This means that there is only one car factory left in all of Belgium. Namely the one where Volvo builds the scandal-hit EX30 in the city of Ghent.

But the Volkswagen Group has more problems. This week it also emerged that the brand is dropping plans to launch the 'electric Passat' ID.7 in the US or Canada.

In a comment to the North American media, a spokesperson 'blames' the decision on 'the changing climate surrounding electric cars'.

The VW people did not say whether this is an allusion to re-elected President Trump's stance on electric cars in particular. On the other hand, Trump has already made it clear that he wants to abolish the support that Americans can get for new electric cars in particular. Read more about it here .

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