VW’s finance chief has warned that it only has one, maybe two years to turn the main Volkswagen brand around. Arno Antlitz spelled out the serious nature of VW’s situation to workers during a meeting at the firm’s Wolfsburg HQ, telling them sales wouldn’t return to pre-COVID levels. The automaker says it will have to close two plants - the first closures in its history - to cut costs in the face of a 500,000-unit reduction in annual demand.
That drop in demand - and slower than anticipated EV take-up - means VW will sell around 500,000 fewer cars in a year, and gives it a maximum of two years to cut output and reduced costs to steady the ship. Earlier this week VW informed its works council of plans to shutter two plants. They would be the first time the automaker has closed a factory in its entire history. One of the plants would be a carmaking facility and the other a parts plant, The Guardian says.