Volkswagen crisis

Audi CEO: Must reduce labor costs in Europe

Continuing to manufacture cars in Europe is only sustainable if labor costs can be reduced. Audi CEO Gernot Döllner tells DI, after the owner group Volkswagen announced major cuts.

In Volkswagen's savings package, Audi's factory in Neckarsulm, Germany, with 15,000 employees, risks closing.

-Competition in China is extreme. They launch two to three models a day so it's tough, he tells DI.

Car factory in Germany is being remodeled - to manufacture air defense

Financially pressured Volkswagen is planning to sell one of its car factories to a player that will supply products to the defense industry, German media reports.

The move is the latest in a series of moves by Volkswagen that is trying to drastically streamline its operations. According to Handelsblatt, the current factory is located in Osnabrück, the investment company that will implement the change is called Aurelius and is based in Israel, according to Bloomberg.

Volkswagen states that the idea is that the car factory will gradually be converted to supply the market with security and defense products, including air defense systems.