At the end of an already unpleasant year, the Audians were once again put to the test. 9,500 jobs will be lost at the German locations of the troubled Volkswagen subsidiary by 2025. Even the pessimists in the workforce had hardly expected this, and the optimists had to bury their illusion that the conversion in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm could be light. That the renovation program also bears the title “Audi Future” sounded like a mockery to those who have no future at the once proud brand with the four rings. Nevertheless, works council chief Peter Mosch spoke at the last employee meeting in December of a “well-tolerated compromise”, with which the “foundation stone had been laid for the next ten years”.
If so, the years of the leadership crisis would be over. There is always a fresh start in the board in the new year: Audi boss Bram Schot, who has negotiated the rough cuts with the works council, will leave the group. In April, he hands over the post to former BMW manager Markus Duesmann, the preferred candidate of CEO Herbert Diess, as planned.