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VW plant in Wolfsburg: Farewell to the golf visitor train, fully electric ID.3 are coming!
Volkswagen has announced changes to the visitor track at its Wolfsburg plant as Golf production moves to Mexico.
VW plant in Wolfsburg: Farewell to the golf visitor train, fully electric ID.3 are coming!
A new phase at Volkswagen: The visitor tram at the main plant in Wolfsburg is being redesigned. This means that the Golf will be banned as a towing vehicle in the future. Guiseppe Lazzara, Head of Guest Relations & TV Studios at Volkswagen AG, announced that six all-electric ID.3s will now be used along with new trailers that will accommodate 15 guests each. The visitor train had transported guests through the factory for many years and the old Golf tractors had odometer readings of between 40,000 and 45,000 kilometers. A company security employee shared a photo on LinkedIn of the removal of these old vehicles. Loud news38.de This is just the beginning of a major upheaval within the company.
But the changes at Volkswagen are not just limited to the visitor track. The car company announced far-reaching restructuring measures that would entail a drastic reduction in jobs. In total, more than 35,000 jobs are to be cut in Germany, especially in Golf production, which will be relocated to Mexico. This measure is part of an agreement between Volkswagen and IG Metall entitled “Future Volkswagen”. CEO Oliver Blume described this decision as an important signal for the brand's future competitiveness. In addition, production capacity will be reduced by 734,000 units, which is expected to increase operational efficiency, such as carscoops.com reported.
The background to the restructuring
The migration of production abroad is a trend that does not only affect Volkswagen. Many German companies are moving away for cost reasons. The pressure on the large corporations is growing as VW Passenger Cars' operating margin has fallen to just 2.3 percent - the worst in the entire group. The reasons for this development are manifold: falling demand, high production costs and geopolitical factors that are driving up energy costs. Hildegard Müller, President of the Association of the Automotive Industry, was critical of production costs in Germany, which are becoming increasingly unattractive for investment, reports merkur.de.
In addition, companies such as ZF Friedrichshafen and Bosch are also having to cut jobs and are considering planned investments in other countries such as the USA and China. IG Metall has already called for wage increases of seven percent for 2024, which is an important issue for many employees given the high inflation and loss of purchasing power.
Despite these challenges, Volkswagen is planning to invest 180 billion euros in digitalization and modernization. In the future, the Wolfsburg plant will also produce the Cupra Born in addition to the ID.3, while production of the Golf will be relocated to Mexico by 2027. Changes cannot be overlooked in the white and blue work against the historical backdrop of the Wolfsburg City Palace.