Impending plant closures at VW: Dulig "alarmed"

Faced with the threat of plant closures at Volkswagen, Economics Minister Martin Dulig (SPD) has signaled support for the sites in Saxony. "The message from Wolfsburg has alarmed us and hit us hard. The Free State of Saxony stands by all Saxon sites and firmly by the side of our colleagues in Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden," he said in a statement. Saxony also supports calls to reintroduce a sales premium for electric vehicles.

Volkswagen recently announced that plant closures and compulsory redundancies are no longer ruled out as part of the cost-cutting program at the core VW brand. The company also terminated the previously applicable job security, which ruled out redundancies until 2029.

Planned job cuts not sufficient

In the view of the Board of Management, the brands within Volkswagen AG must be comprehensively restructured, it said. "In the current situation, plant closures at vehicle production and component locations can no longer be ruled out without rapid countermeasures." The previously planned job cuts through partial retirement and severance payments are no longer sufficient to achieve the targeted savings.

Germany-wide, Volkswagen employs around 120,000 people. According to the company, there are around 11,000 employees in Saxony, and job cuts were already announced for the plant in Zwickau at the beginning of July due to weak demand for e-cars.