Revolt at Volkswagen: Electric car crisis spreads to Germany as it plans to close factories for the first time in its HISTORY and 66,000 workers go on strike

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Posted on 12/02/2024 12:06:20 PM PST by DFG

Workers at Volkswagen factories across Germany have begun strikes after the manufacturer threatened to close plants amid falling demand and a slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles.

Workers on their morning shifts went on strike for two hours, while those on the evening shift plan to leave work early in protest at the carmaker's demands, which include a 10% wage cut.

At Volkswagen's main plant in Wolfsburg, which employs 70,000 people, a two-hour strike means several hundred cars cannot be built, union sources said.

In addition to Wolfsburg and Hanover, which employs a further 14,000 staff, plants affected include Zwickau, VW's EV-only plant, where workers will strike today and tomorrow.

It is the first time the company has threatened to close factories in Germany in its 87-year history as European manufacturers battle foreign competition, high production costs and slow uptake of electric vehicles on the continent.

Sales of VW cars have plummeted in Europe as demand stalls and consumers return to petrol. Globally, sales in the first three months of the year dropped by three per cent as the sales of petrol motors rose by four per cent.

The industry has argued consumer appetite for electric vehicles is still too low.

Stellantis – which owns Vauxhall – earlier this week blamed the mandate as it announced plans to close its van factory in Luton, putting 1,100 jobs at risk. Chief Executive Carlos Tavares resigned abruptly on Sunday after the group lost around 40% of its value this year.

The boss of Ford's UK arm warned late last month that Britain's car industry is in crisis due to the overwhelming lack of demand for electric cars.

Lisa Brankin, the chairman and managing director of Ford UK, called for the Government to urgently introduce ‘incentives’ in a bid to stoke interest.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...

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1 posted on 12/02/2024 12:06:20 PM PST by DFG

To: DFG

2 posted on 12/02/2024 12:08:02 PM PST by Tell It Right (1 Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)

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