Oliver Blume, CEO of German car giant Volkswagen, called the closure of its plants by 2030 unrealistic.
“Our existing plants, especially in Germany, produce specific models and we need these cars“, Blume said during a conference call discussing the company's financial results for the second quarter, according to the DPA news agency. “Talking about closing plants by 2030 is unrealistic”, said Volkswagen's CEO.
At the same time, he repeated his previous statements that there are more sensible solutions than closing production sites. Blume said improving competitiveness was paramount and everything else would follow from there.
Volkswagen had previously announced plans to cut 50,000 jobs at its German plants across the group by 2030. Meanwhile, 35,000 vacant positions will be eliminated in the company's core brand, with the rest in subsidiaries such as Audi and Porsche. More than 37,000 employees have already signed the relevant agreements. Overall, under the new cost-cutting program planned by Blume, another 50,000 jobs and four plants could be cut if costs cannot be reduced by other means.
The plan is to reduce the production capacity of the entire group to approximately 9 million vehicles per year - 1 million fewer than current levels and approximately 3 million fewer than pre-COVID-19 levels. In addition, a significant reduction in the model range and equipment levels of vehicles is planned in order to save money.