Volkswagen To Shut Down At Least Three German Plants to Save Costs

Volkswagen plans to shut at least three factories in Germany, lay off tens of thousands of staff and shrink its remaining plants in Europe's biggest economy as it plots a deeper-than-expected overhaul, the carmaker's works council head said.

 

Europe's biggest carmaker has been negotiating for weeks with unions over its plans to revamp its business and lower costs, including considering plant closures in Germany for the first time.

 

"Management is absolutely serious about all this. This is not sabre-rattling in the collective bargaining round," Daniela Cavallo, Volkswagen's works council head, told several hundreds of employees at the carmaker's biggest plant, in Wolfsburg, on Monday.