Thursday 14 March 2019

Volkswagen announces job cuts as it accelerates towards EVs

Volkswagen has announced 7,000 job cuts as it accelerates its shift towards electric vehicles (EVs).

The German car giant has outlined plans to reorganise its business in a bid to strengthen competitiveness, improve efficiency, reduce material costs and ultimately bolster its earnings to a yearly level of €5.9 billion (£5bn) from 2023.

It says investments in future business avenues totalling €19 billion (£16.2bn) will be ramped up through to 2023 - this is €8 billion (£6.8bn) more than originally planned for the period.

The company suggests these investments are intended to mitigate the rising costs of more stringent carbon dioxide and exhaust regulations.

It also estimates the automation of routine tasks will result in the loss of between 5,000 and 7,000 jobs by 2023 but notes around 11,000 employees are already due to retire over this period.

It also hopes to create around 2,000 new jobs relating to electronics architecture and software.

Dr Arno Antlitz, Volkswagen Brand Board Member for Controlling and Accounting, said: “The measures from the earnings improvement program will enable our brand to achieve a competitive return level of 6% in 2022.

"This improvement is the basis for financing the necessary upfront expenditures for our transformation and live up to our strategic aspirations in the electric age."