IHK Chemnitz demands clarity from Volkswagen in the crisis

In the crisis at Volkswagen, the President of the Chemnitz Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Max Jankowsky, has called for rapid clarity about the future of the individual sites. The current vacuum is very damaging, he lamented on the fringes of the Automotive Forum in Zwickau. On the one hand, there is great fear among employees, while on the other hand, suppliers' planning is being made more difficult. A clear statement is needed from the company management in Wolfsburg. "Decisions must be based on key figures, not zip codes." He believes that Volkswagen's two large sites in Saxony - the car factory in Zwickau and the engine plant in Chemnitz - are very well positioned within the company.

In view of the high production costs in Germany, Volkswagen is pushing ahead with a tough cost-cutting course. Among other things, the car manufacturer wants to reduce collectively agreed wages by ten percent. According to the works council, the company management is also planning to close at least three plants in Germany and reduce capacity by half at the remaining sites. There is also massive resistance to this from employees in Saxony. Here, Volkswagen has around 12,000 employees at three sites in Zwickau, Chemnitz and Dresden.