Dirk Vogel in an interview with Freie Presse: VW savings plans in Zwickau and the effects on suppliers
Read a short summary of the most important statements here
“The East is breaking off once again”: AMZ manager Dirk Vogel warns of job losses in the supplier industry
The planned relocation of production at Volkswagen in Zwickau will have a massive impact on automotive suppliers in the region. Dirk Vogel, manager of the Automotive Suppliers Network Saxony (AMZ), warns of significant job losses and sharply criticizes the decisions made by Volkswagen and politicians.
20,000 jobs at risk
“We will see massive job cuts over the next few years,” says Dirk Vogel. With the withdrawal of the ID.3 and Cupra Born e-car models from the Zwickau plant, production will become uneconomical for many suppliers. Around 50,000 people are employed in the supplier industry in Saxony, and Vogel expects around 20,000 jobs to be at risk. “The industry is extremely frustrated. The outlook is very bleak,” he explains.
Production cuts weaken the Zwickau site
Dirk Vogel sees Volkswagen’s current decisions as a clear weakening of the Zwickau site. “With the withdrawal of the entire VW production, the plant is de facto being downgraded to an Audi site,” says Vogel. However, Audi is also affected by overcapacity: “Audi will cease production at the Brussels plant in February. The question remains whether Audi will not relocate the Q4 e-tron to the main plant in Ingolstadt in the long term.”
Even the planned introduction of a recycling area in Zwickau from 2027 will not be able to compensate for the cuts. “At the moment, nobody knows what the recycling will involve and how big the market will actually be,” criticizes Vogel.
“Zwickau – the big loser”
Vogel’s verdict on the unequal treatment of the locations is particularly harsh. While plants such as Wolfsburg and Emden are being supported, Zwickau is the big loser. “Capacity is being reduced where the least resistance is expected,” he says. In Emden – also a pure e-car plant – the two-shift system will be retained and the plant will also receive new models such as the ID.7 and the ID.4 Reskin.
Criticism of state policy
Vogel also criticized Saxony’s Minister of Economic Affairs Dirk Panter (SPD), who had assessed the outcome of the negotiations as positive. “In the supplier industry, we don’t understand how Panter came to such an assessment,” says Vogel. The minister’s statements that they would remain in close consultation with the company management and works council were not very reassuring for those affected.
Conclusion
Dirk Vogel makes it clear: the Zwickau site, once a showcase project for electromobility, is facing an uncertain future. The relocation of key models and the associated production cutbacks will not only affect Volkswagen, but also the entire supplier industry. “The East is once again breaking off,” summarizes Vogel – a development that poses major challenges for both politicians and the automotive industry.
This is an amended version of the original article in the Freie Presse from 08.01.2025, by Jan-Dirk Franke, “VW savings plans in Zwickau: Suppliers fear for 20,000 jobs”