Before this year’s planning round of the group, the employee representatives in Wolfsburg are concerned about the future capacity utilization of the main plant and are calling for a faster path to the production of e-cars.
Wolfsburg (dpa) – In view of the underutilized main plant in Wolfsburg, the VW works council is calling for a faster route to the production of e-cars.
“The difficult situation at the Wolfsburg plant is a clear focus of ongoing discussions for this year’s planning round,” said the general and group works council chairman Daniela Cavallo, according to a statement on Saturday. With the conclusion of the planning round, the investments in the global group locations would be determined in about six weeks. The resolutions go into the second half of the decade.
Cavallo and her deputy Gerardo Scarpino referred to the tense situation in the main plant. For the second year in a row, the factory is threatened with a historic production low since the post-war period. Last year Wolfsburg only had half a million vehicles. This year, also marked by considerable short-time work, it should be even less.
This means that the main plant not only falls below the most recent ten-year average of just under 780,000 cars per year. The utilization commitments agreed with the company are also far from this: With the future pact adopted at the end of 2016, the Management Board guaranteed a utilization of at least 820,000 vehicles in the main plant for 2020. In mid-2018, the target of one million vehicles was even announced. “Even after adjustment for the current negative factors corona and semiconductor shortages, we are a long way from these mutually agreed plans,” said Cavallo.
The workforce is increasingly concerned. “She does not know such long short-time working phases,” said Cavallo. This not only applies, but also especially for the colleagues at the main plant.
The Trinity lighthouse project, which will bring a completely new VW flagship to the main plant in the middle of the decade, will not turn the tide. The start of production for Trinity is expected for 2026. “It can already be seen from the development of the numbers that the Trinity will not be sufficient to utilize the plant,” emphasized Scarpino. The location needs a quicker route to e-mobility, demanded Cavallo, and it must be a “voluminous model”.