Volkswagen (VW) CEO Oliver Blume addressed thousands of workers at the company’s Wolfsburg headquarters, emphasizing the urgent need to “secure the company’s future” amid a vicious downturn in the auto industry and intensifying competition.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Blume stated that the German auto giant has been streamlining operations and incorporated new synergies but still faces a bumpy road ahead. He added that reducing labor costs is needed.
“The current situation is serious. New competitors are entering the market with unprecedented force. The price pressure is immense,” the CEO told workers on Wednesday.
He added, “In addition, our labor costs in Germany have now become too high. That is why urgent measures are needed to secure Volkswagen’s future.”
In late October, Volkswagen’s top labor leader, works council chief Daniela Cavallo, who also sits on VW’s supervisory board, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying three factories were preparing for closure, and VW was mulling over eliminating thousands of jobs and scaling back pay by 10% and hours.
Earlier this week, WSJ noted that 100,000 workers, or about 33% of the company’s total German workforce, staged a labor action across nine factories amid plant closure and mass layoff threats.
