Whereas not surprising, the grim monetary image showcased the myriad headwinds Germany’s flagship automaker faces because it struggles to stay aggressive within the transition to electrical autos. Not serving to is an financial downturn at residence, resulting in decrease demand as shoppers pull again on large expenditures, plus a slowdown in China — its largest single market.
The outcomes “reveal the pressing want for motion within the risky surroundings characterised by intense competitors. This is the reason we face necessary and painful choices that we have to make collectively and to bear collectively,” Arno Antlitz, the group’s chief monetary officer, stated in a name with traders.
VW introduced earlier this week it might shut three German crops, together with reducing salaries by 10 p.c. Audi, in the meantime, stated it will likely be shuttering its Brussels manufacturing unit in February of subsequent yr.
Unions are pushing again.
The IG Metall union has known as on VW to carry talks on the way forward for all its factories. Thorsten Gröger, IG Metall district supervisor for Decrease Saxony, informed German media that in any other case the union would “should plan for additional escalation.”
VW wasn’t the one unhealthy information for the German economic system. Chemical compounds big BASF stated its outcomes would are available on the backside finish of predictions, blaming the droop within the automotive and farming sectors.
