Volkswagen sacks employees at Zwickau electric car plant

 

ZWICKAU – Volkswagen (VW) is cutting jobs at its electric car plant in Zwickau in eastern Germany in the face of weak demand.

A total of 269 workers on limited contracts will lose their jobs when their 12-month contracts expire shortly, VW said following a company meeting on Thursday. The precise details are to be coordinated with the works council over the days ahead.

 

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The company cited “current market conditions” as the reason for the decision. High inflation and declining discounts are seen as the reason for low demand for electric cars, which are more expensive than their combustion engine counterparts.

The Zwickau plant in the state of Saxony assembles exclusively electric cars for the VW core brand and Volkswagen subsidiaries Audi and Cupra. It employs a total of 10,700 workers, a further 2,200 of whom are also reported to be on short-term contracts and who could also lose their jobs.

“Volkswagen remains 100% convinced of the path towards electric mobility,” and no change in the company’s plans are in sight, a spokesman said. The future of the Zwickau plant was secure and there would be further investment there, he added.

The plant has pioneered Volkswagen’s move to electric vehicles. It produces the VW models ID.3, ID.4 and ID.5, along with Audi’s Q4 e-tron and Q4 Sportback and Cupra’s Born. Production of combustion engines ceased in 2020.

Despite spare capacity at the Zwickau plant, there are plans to produce the Audi Q4 e-tron and the VW ID.3 at other plants. “We will be producing the Q4 e-tron in Brussels from the end of 2023 – in addition to production in Zwickau,” an Audi spokeswoman told dpa.