Four German states: Lower Saxony, Saxony, Hesse, and Berlin, with a strong presence of Volkswagen, aim to collaborate to ensure that the automaker does not close any of its factories, according to a joint statement from the economic ministers of the four states, as reported by Reuters..
The primary goal is to fully preserve all factories.’This means that individual locations will not compete against each other,‘ the document dated October 10 states, as conveyed by Agerpres.
Tensions at Volkswagen have intensified due to the threat of factory closures, and negotiations with the powerful IG Metall union are strained.
Moreover, IG Metall needs to negotiate new collective labor agreements for the 130,000 employees in Germany at the VW brand, after the group last month abandoned a long-standing agreement that stipulated the retention of the workforce at six of its plants in West Germany.
Last week, the financial rating agency Moody’s downgraded the outlook assigned to the rating of the German group Volkswagen AG from stable to negative, indicating that a further downgrade is possible.
This decision follows a deterioration in the operational performance of the largest European automaker and expected challenges in recovering the situation, according to Moody’s statement.
The German group Volkswagen reported a 7% decline in global deliveries in the third quarter of 2024 (following a 3. 8% decrease in the previous three months), amid weak demand in China and high production costs in the domestic market.
