Rather than serving as a shining example, the site, where the group's flagship electric model ID.3 is finished, is more of an illustration of the challenges facing Volkswagen's transition away from internal combustion engines.
Volkswagen is pouring tens of billions of euros into its pivot to electric vehicles. But with the economic outlook less than rosy, chief executive Oliver Blume has pledged to"work hard" on cutting costs to boost performance. There were"no plans to stop production" of batter-powered cars at the plant, stressed Christian Sommer, spokesman for the Volkswagen unit in Saxony, after talks between workers and management.
Volkswagen sold 321 000 battery-powered vehicles in the first half of 2023 -- about 50 percent more than in the same period last year and roughly seven percent of its total sales."The car market is weak because the world economy is weak," Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer of the Centre Automotive Research told AFP.