VW threatens shutting down domestic factories for good

The situation surrounding Volkswagen Group facilities in Germany has spiraled out of control and may culminate in multiple industrial complexes stopping their car production lines.

Volkswagen executives have a meeting with trade union leaders scheduled later this week – and it better be a productive one. Daniela Cavallo, leader of the Works Council of the Volkswagen Group and member of the local IG Metall trade union, has promised the carmaker “a very uncomfortable” meeting and fierce resistance from the workers who may lose jobs if their factories shut down. According to her, personnel cuts aren’t a valid way of solving the company’s current issues.

Speaking with the media, Cavallo also pointed out what she believed were strategic planning mistakes that the VAG leadership had made over the past years. She accused the company management of stubbornly ignoring hybrid powertrain technologies and being too slow to develop truly affordable EVs.