Volkswagen’s Brand Chief Thomas Schäfer Announces Stress Test for Each Plant, New Investments Only After Meeting Agreed Targets
After reaching an agreement with unions on job cuts and billion-euro cost savings, Volkswagen’s brand chief Thomas Schäfer now plans a stress test for each of the company’s plants. New investments at individual sites will only be made if the agreed-upon targets are met, Schäfer told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
“We have agreed on clear goals and measures for each site to achieve competitiveness. Future investment decisions will be aligned with the achievement of these goals” Schäfer said.
Although more than 35,000 jobs, out of a total of 130,000, will be reduced by 2030 without layoffs, Volkswagen plans to launch a new model offensive, Schäfer said: “We will introduce nine new models by 2027. We want to be the number one in Europe in the electric age – with at least three VWs in the EU’s top 10 ranking.”
Volkswagen’s CEO Oliver Blume, in an internal company statement for employees, as reported by Bild am Sonntag, was self-critical about the drastic cost-cutting program: “These were certainly the most intense negotiations I have experienced in my professional career so far.” He acknowledged that the company had asked its employees for a lot during the negotiations.
The uncertainty about the future of the sites and job security was great. “That emotionally affected me as well” Blume said.