Volkswagen's crisis

New crisis plan from VW can keep factories alive

Volkswagen presents a crisis plan with expected wage cuts but also "other measures" that can keep its factories open in Germany. That's what Bloomberg writes.

- We are open to all discussions to reach our financial goals, says the company's main negotiator Arne Meiswinkel to reporters in Wolfsburg.

According to Meiswinkel, the crisis plan includes a revised bonus system. It was at the beginning of September that Volkswagen made the historic announcement that it was considering closing factories in Germany to cope with the increasingly pressured situation.
 

...................................

Scholz is criticized for waking up late about the German crisis

After the information that Volkswagen may be forced to close three factories and carry out mass layoffs, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called German industry leaders to a meeting on Tuesday, according to several media. The steel giant Thyssenkrupp is also facing major problems.

But Scholz is criticized for a late awakening to the crisis in German industry and is heckled in the German press for acting first before the election, according to DN's Anna-Lena Laurén:

"Perhaps the historians will be able to deduce from internal protocols when and why Scholz in connection with the election campaign decided to become the savior of industries," writes the German Wirtschaftswoche.

A major strike is also threatening the automotive giant after VW flagged wage cuts of 10 percent, at the same time as the current employer agreement expires on December 1.