For months, Volkswagen has been threatening to close factories in Germany as it hunts for ways to slash costs and sure up its finances. However, the company’s supervisory board is now pondering the possibility of keeping them open in news that’ll no doubt be welcomed by employees and local labor unions.
If VW closed plants in Germany, it would mark the first time in the company’s history that such drastic measures have been taken. The company is facing increased competition from new brands entering the European market, in particular Chinese automakers, and according to VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer, the situation “cannot be resolved through simply cost-cutting measures.” For the past three months, unions and VW have been at loggerheads about what measures are necessary to slash costs.
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