The Volkswagen Group actually wants to focus all its efforts on electric cars. But the customers thwart his plans. Locations like Zwickau or Emden, which VW has converted to electric models, are underutilized because cars like the ID.3 electric compact car or the ID.4 city SUV are not selling as hoped. Price too high, range too low, charging network too thin: Many customers prefer to buy combustion engines and could thereby bring an unexpected boost to a factory that is otherwise more prone to capacity utilization problems. The Golf combustion engine model manufactured in Wolfsburg is currently in high demand from customers – but there is a lack of components to produce enough vehicles. “Colleagues, it’s a tragedy,” said works council boss Daniela Cavallo on Tuesday at a works meeting at the main factory in Wolfsburg Participants report. “Customers want our vehicles. And then we are once again missing the parts for it.” The works council’s announcement to the board was: “The production here at the main plant must finally produce quantities. We’re not walking here, we’re still limping.” Capacity utilization at the headquarters reached its lowest point in 2021 and 2022, when 400,000 vehicles rolled off the assembly line in each case, half as much as the systems can produce. Last year the number rose to 490,000 vehicles. This year there are expected to be more than 500,000. Latest variant: The Golf in current production.Reuters The Golf has been rolling off the assembly line in Wolfsburg for exactly 50 years. The factory has produced more than 20 million units, making it the largest connected car factory in the world. Including production in other global VW plants, the model even comes to 37 million units. A refreshed version of the eighth generation is currently rolling off the production line. At a ceremony in the production halls on the Mittelland Canal, management and the works council together with Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) celebrated the golf anniversary at the beginning of the week. “The Golf is more than just a car, it is a cult,” said the SPD politician in front of around 120 invited guests. Since 1974, the model has “contributed significantly to the stability and growth of Volkswagen and the Lower Saxony economy.” The truth is that sales figures have been under pressure in recent years, also because the compact segment is competitive. The supply situation has repeatedly caused difficulties recently. One of the basic problems at the moment is that many suppliers have switched their production to components for e-vehicles, which are now not being called up as hoped, according to company circles. “We are being slowed down in various places here.” At the same time, there are always logistical difficulties. The flood in southern Germany could also lead to further problems because there are many suppliers there whose production may be affected, they say. “Get the processes under control!” Cavallo also sees poor planning on the part of management. “It’s depressing: first we gain momentum, then something slows us down again. “We can’t get any peace and quiet here,” she said at the works meeting. Addressing the board, she added: “Get the processes under control! This has to finally sit now. Since Corona, we’ve had the plague on our hands with missing parts.” A VW spokesman confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that the goal remains to produce more than half a million vehicles at the Wolfsburg main plant this year. The works council sees the fact that customers are positive Always ask well about VW combustion engine models. This applies not only to the Golf, but also to the Tiguan city off-road vehicle, which is also produced in Wolfsburg. At the same time, it is clear that the weakness of the electric car market is putting the VW Group in trouble. Because plants like Zwickau or Emden rely on the market moving quickly towards e-mobility. Wolfsburg, on the other hand, can benefit from a controversial strategy that Cavallo’s predecessor at the top of the works council, Bernd Osterloh, implemented at the time. Instead of quickly electrifying the plant, global Golf production was consolidated there. The workforce is all the more annoyed that the current customer demand is not stimulating production as much as the capacity would actually allow. More on the topic In general, the situation is tense, also because a savings program has started in the group, which primarily affects administration. There, in the “indirect area”, VW wants to reduce costs by 20 percent. Instruments for job cuts such as partial retirement and severance payments are being accepted in large numbers, as Human Resources Director Gunnar Kilian reported on Tuesday at the works meeting, according to participants. It was said that half of the budget for severance payments at Volkswagen AG of around 900 million euros is already reserved through more or less concrete agreements with employees. New points of contention are likely to arise in the autumn when negotiations on a new company collective agreement at VW get heated go phase. In the recent disputes over the efficiency program, the company also brought pay cuts into play, said works council boss Cavallo. “Let’s wait and see when the company positions itself. And whether the company will bring out the poison list again. Or just parts of it.”
Go to Source