by Alimat Aliyeva<\/p>\n
The management of German automaker Volkswagen has reportedly
\napproved plans to end car production at four major plants in
\nGermany. The decision is part of the company\u2019s wider cost-cutting
\nstrategy as Volkswagen faces growing competition, high production
\ncosts and weaker demand in some European markets.<\/p>\n
The information was reported by WirtschaftsWoche (WiWo), which
\ncited an internal company report obtained by the publication.
\nSources inside Volkswagen described the company\u2019s current situation
\nin dramatic terms, comparing it to the Titanic after it had already
\nhit an iceberg.<\/p>\n
According to the report, production at the Emden and Zwickau
\nplants is expected to end in 2031, while the Hanover plant could
\nstop producing cars in 2032. Production at the Neckarsulm plant is
\nreportedly scheduled to end in 2034.<\/p>\n
Volkswagen is considering moving some production to lower-cost
\nlocations in countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia and
\nPoland. However, the German factories could potentially remain open
\nif the company manages to significantly reduce production
\ncosts.<\/p>\n
According to WirtschaftsWoche, Volkswagen currently spends
\naround \u20ac4,900 per vehicle on production in Germany, while the
\ncompany\u2019s target is to bring costs much closer to those of its
\nEuropean facilities. Volkswagen reportedly wants to achieve major
\nsavings by the summer of 2027, although experts believe that
\nreaching the necessary cost reductions will be extremely
\ndifficult.<\/p>\n
As part of its broader restructuring program, Volkswagen also
\nplans to save tens of billions of euros. The company is considering
\nmajor changes to its brand portfolio, including reducing its
\ninvolvement in some businesses and selling stakes in hundreds of
\nsubsidiaries. Among the assets that could potentially be affected
\nare Ducati and Traton. The company is also considering ending
\nproduction of the Porsche Taycan electric sports car from 2030 and
\nreducing the number of management positions by several
\nthousand.<\/p>\n
The situation highlights the serious challenges facing Europe\u2019s
\ntraditional car industry. Volkswagen is under pressure not only
\nfrom high labor and energy costs but also from the rapid growth of
\nChinese automakers and the expensive transition to electric
\nvehicles.<\/p>\n
On August 24, Bloomberg reported that Volkswagen was considering
\njob cuts that could affect up to 140,000 positions. Volkswagen CEO
\nOliver Blume has previously said that the company needs to reduce
\nits European production capacity by more than 500,000 vehicles per
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Blume has not officially announced the closure of specific
\nGerman factories, but he has repeatedly warned that Volkswagen\u2019s
\nproduction facilities in Germany are significantly more expensive
\nthan those of many competitors.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, Volkswagen is one of Germany\u2019s largest industrial
\nemployers, so the possible closures could have consequences far
\nbeyond the company itself. Entire cities and local economies depend
\nheavily on Volkswagen factories and their network of suppliers. If
\nthe plans go ahead, the restructuring could become one of the
\nbiggest changes in the history of Germany\u2019s automotive
\nindustry.<\/p>\n
For Volkswagen, the challenge is to become more competitive
\nwithout losing its position as one of Europe\u2019s most important car
\nmanufacturers. The coming years will show whether the company can
\nsuccessfully reduce costs while at the same time investing enough
\nin electric vehicles and new technologies to compete in the rapidly
\nchanging global car market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Alimat Aliyeva The management of German automaker Volkswagen has reportedly approved plans to end car production at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20947],"tags":[26571,14,59719,13,3694,1447,4393,95,59718,6111,358,59717,788,5356,46],"class_list":["post-83672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-volkswagen","tag-analytics","tag-azerbaijan","tag-azernews","tag-baku","tag-breaking-news","tag-business-news","tag-company-news","tag-economy","tag-financial-news","tag-oil-and-gas-news","tag-politics","tag-socar","tag-turkey","tag-volkswagen","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}