Dear reader,
Volkswagen has never closed a factory in Germany. Now the top management around Oliver Blume (56) is no longer ruling it out. Above all, VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer (54) has to save much harder than he has tried before
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The fact that the management also wants to terminate the job security that is valid until 2029, which has been repeatedly extended since 1994, even alarmed Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (66). Works council boss Daniela Cavallo (49) accuses management of failure; she, like Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil (65), does not want to accept factory closures. Nothing on the supervisory board goes against Weil, his 20 percent share in the group and the VW law. You can find out more about the situation in Wolfsburg in this newsletter.
Because of all the VW hustle and bustle, we don’t want to forget our other topics of the week:
How a Chinese sky-striker is harassing Airbus and Boeing.
Why the Bakfiets boss complains about some bicycle competitors.
Everything you always wanted to know about Sajjad Khan.
Top topic: How China wants to conquer aviation
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More than a toy: The Chinese jet C919 – here as a model at a trade fair in Shanghai
Photo: Hector Retamal / AFP
China’s auto industry has long been on the attack. But the world’s roads are not enough for the regime led by President Xi Jinping (71), China also wants to conquer the airspace. The chosen sky-striker is called Comac. The state-owned company is targeting the supremacy of the Airbus and Boeing duopoly. “China must spare no effort to build a strong aviation industry,” Xi said. The attack aircraft, the C919, is still only registered in China, and the classic aircraft manufacturers are not yet shaking. Yes, and the car analogy fits again: climate-neutral flying could be an opportunity for Comac. My colleague Michael Machatschke reports, how the Chinese sky-striker is harassing Airbus and Boeing
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Heads: Daniela Cavallo ++ Anita Wölfel ++ Christian Lindner ++ Karin Rådström
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March in Hall 11: VW works meeting on Wednesday in Wolfsburg
Photo: Moritz Frankenberg / AP
Volkswagen’s works council boss Daniela Cavallo (49) said at the works meeting in Wolfsburg that there would never be any site closures in her life. The board of directors around CEO Oliver Blume (56) faced the more than 10,000 VW employees present. The management was greeted with whistles and banners (“Shitty double standards”). CFO Arno Antlitz (55) chose drastic words: VW has “another year, maybe two years to turn things around.” The market is simply no longer there. “We are missing sales of around 500,000 cars and sales for around two plants,” said Antlitz. Wolfsburg is facing a hot autumn.
The VW drama is the latest escalation in an industry that is generally very unsettled. The Ifo Institute’s auto business climate index fell by 6.2 points to minus 24.7 points in August. There’s nothing to sugarcoat: “The mood in the auto industry is plummeting,” says Ifo expert Anita Wölfl.
In order to boost the slumping sales of electric cars in Germany – in August the minus was 69 percent – Finance Minister Christian Lindner (45) is releasing around 600 million euros in state money despite tight budgets. Anyone who had hoped for a new environmental bonus will have to keep hoping. Instead, the federal government is expanding the Tax advantages for electric company cars on models with a list price of up to 95,000 euros previously the limit was 70,000 euros. In addition, there is a special depreciation on electric vehicles until 2028.
We have already told you at this point that the Swede Karin Rådström (45) will soon take over the helm of the truck and bus manufacturer Daimler Truck two weeks ago exclusively
reveal – and also what she has on her agenda in the near future. Now the matter is final. The supervisory board decided She will take office on October 1st by Martin Daum (64). Good luck!
Deep Drive live: Ask your questions to Sajjad Khan
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Software connoisseurs and experts: Ask Porsche’s Car IT board member Sajjad Khan your questions at “manage:mobility live”
Photo: Sarah / [M] Alexander Fischer / Porsche
One of the biggest challenges for the auto industry is the software for the vehicle of the future. Are German manufacturers lagging behind? We’ll talk about this on September 19th at 6 p.m. with Porsche’s first Car IT board member Sajjad Khan (50) – in our digital event “manage:mobility live”. Participating subscribers can ask their own questions to perhaps the most profound software expert in the German auto industry. An opportunity you shouldn’t miss. You can register for the digital event here.
News about: BYD ++ Volvo ++ Audi ++ Lufthansa
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Battery champion: Chinese manufacturers like BYD dominate the battery business
Photo: Xu Chang / Xinhua / IMAGO
To date, the majority of electric cars in Europe have used lithium-ion batteries. BYD in particular is already pushing forward a different cell chemistry: the iron phosphate battery. Here you can find out why more and more European manufacturers are turning to so-called LFP cells A boom is likely to occur in Europe.
When manager magazin reported in June that Volvo’s self-imposed phase-out of combustion engines for 2030 was on the rocks, the Swedes did not agree with the headline. Now CEO Jim Rowan (59) has officially canceled the project. The new goal is “90 to 100 percent” electric cars.
It was not an exaggeration to describe Hildegard Wortmann (57) as the face of Audi in recent years. Hardly anyone in the automotive industry understands social networks better than them – and uses them so consistently. For the brand, but also for herself. Now Wortmann is leaving after five years as Audi sales director. She is followed by Marco Schubert (50), a long-time Audi man who left Porsche in 2022 due to a disagreement with Wortmann. My colleague Michael Freitag explains the background to one Finishing with some background noise
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Tragic news hit Audi on Tuesday: Italian boss Fabrizio Longo fell during a mountain tour 200 meters deep and died. Longo was 62 years old. Our condolences go out to the bereaved.
Lufthansa has just been awarded the contract to take over the Italian state airline ITA, and the company is already putting out feelers again. The object of desire this time: the Portuguese state airline TAP. As a first step, CEO Carsten Spohr (57) appears to want to Secure 19.9 percent of the TAP shares.
More mobility: Bakfiets ++ GDL
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Casual on the frame: Company founder Jan Rijkeboer has been building Bakfiets.nl brand cargo bikes for more than 25 years
Photo: Azor
First the Vanmoof bankruptcy, then the scandal surrounding fragile Babboe cargo bikes – the reputation of the proud Dutch bicycle industry has recently suffered. Jan Rijkeboer (58) is a veteran of the industry. In 1997 he founded his bicycle factory in Hoogeveen, and since then around 200,000 Azor and Bakfiets.nl bicycles have been assembled there. In the mm interview with my colleague Lutz Reiche
Rijkeboer criticizes his competitors, “some of them were and still are about making quick money. We are now seeing the consequences: many bicycles of poor quality, produced without heart and mind.”
After 16 years as head of the train drivers’ union GDL, Claus Weselsky (65) says goodbye into retirement. He was known to the public as the face of several rail strikes, and he sometimes referred to rail managers as “rivets,” “idiots,” or “full-heads.” Hardly anyone in the train tower is likely to mourn Weselsky, but the car rental company Sixt, as a regular strike profiteer, congratulates on a “groundbreaking career
“ and thanks “for 16 years of successful cooperation”.
Tell us what you think!
If you have any questions or suggestions about this newsletter, please feel free to write to us manage.mobility@manager-magazin.de
. Of course, if you have any tips or suggestions for research. We look forward to your message.
Number of the week: 10
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“Not involved”: Former Volkswagen boss Martin Winterkorn protests his innocence in court
Photo: Marcus Prell / EPA
Volkswagen plunged into permanent crisis mode under Martin Winterkorn (77). When the diesel scandal broke in late autumn 2015, he was CEO. A few days later he resigned. Now, almost 9 years later, Winterkorn is on trial in Braunschweig. He is accused of commercial fraud, market manipulation and unsworn false statements. Winterkorn rejects this, saying he is “not a specialist in emissions control and not a software expert either“. As a result, he didn’t understand the technical problems, says the man who once headed Volkswagen’s technical development. The ex-manager is now scheduled to travel from Munich to Braunschweig for two days almost every week; the trial is scheduled to last 90 days until September 2025. Winterkorn, who is presumed innocent, If convicted, you can face up to ten years in prison.
Ghost driver of the week
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New job with no future: Audi manager Thomas Bogus is given one of the most thankless tasks in the group
Photo: Audi
Thomas Bogus is promoted to plant manager at Audi. What sounds great to a previous project manager is actually the opposite: the VW subsidiary is sending Bogus to Brussels. He is taking over a factory that has not built any cars in the last few weeks and will no longer do so by the end of 2025 at the latest. At least not for Audi. Brussels is massively underutilized with the Q8 e-tron as the only model; other cars from the group are not relocated there. If Audi does not find a buyer, the plant will be closed. You really don’t have to envy Bogus his promotion to one of the most thankless jobs in the company.
Have a good week.
Yours, Christoph Seyerlein
Do you have any wishes, suggestions or information that we should take care of journalistically? You can reach my colleagues in the Mobility team and me at manage.mobility@manager-magazin.de
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