Both stakeholders are already on edge. Utilizing the carmaker’s own internal figures, the Fraunhofer Institute estimated last week that employment in Volkswagen brand car plants in Germany could sink by 12 percent by 2029 because of the switch to electromobility. Worse, the group component plants would assemble parts that were 40 to 60 percent less labor-intensive. That means creative solutions and upskilling are required to manage the transformation, as layoffs have been ruled out.
The two patriarchs of the Porsche and Piëch families that control 53.3 percent of the voting shares demonstratively backed Diess, who was forced to yield control over the VW brand in June to a union favorite, Ralf Brandstätter.
“It’s of vital importance for us that Herbert Diess together with his new team of top executives continue to shape the Volkswagen Group in this key phase,” said Wolfgang Porsche and Hans Michel Piëch in a joint statement sent to Automotive News Europe. “He has our complete confidence.”
The cousins want to see more done to trim excess flab. According to Reuters, Diess now aims to slash the number of hours it takes to build a car in Wolfsburg to 10 to match Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s target for a plant near Berlin. That would be less than half the time it takes to assemble the factory’s two main models, the Golf and Tiguan.
Unions are furious, however, about plunging volume at the factory. It is on track to build just 500,000 light vehicles during this pandemic-racked year, down from roughly 700,000 in 2019 and a far cry from the 1 million promised to employee representatives more than two years ago.
The latest five-year planning round even earmarked nearly 50 percent more funds for a plant in Hanover, which will be converted to mainly build battery-electric vehicles. Wolfsburg, meanwhile, was told it must wait until next November before a decision is made on an electric model. Without the investment, it could fall further behind.
Instead, works council boss Bernd Osterloh seized the opportunity to extract fresh concessions.
At the meeting, he negotiated a prestigious next-generation electric vehicle for Wolfsburg that is expected to compete in the same segment as the Tesla Model S. In exchange, the labor leader signed off on the appointment of Audi’s hard-nosed head of controlling and accounting as group finance chief.
