1 / 12In this Tuesday, May 14, 2019 photo, robot arms stand at the assembly line during the reconstruction for the electrical car body construction at a press tour at the plant of the German manufacturer Volkswagen AG in Zwickau, Germany. Volkswagen will total shift into electric cars at the plant in Zwickau and the first vehicles are to roll off the assembly line at the end of 2019. shift into electric cars at the local plant.
"We see dangers in this, but we see this really as a chance for Zwickau the manufacturing center to stand out," the town's mayor, Pia Findeiss, told The Associated Press. Engine parts maker UKM Fahrzeugteile, for example, does half of its business in classic drive trains. It says it's shifting its strategic focus toward trucks and motorcycles, as well as non-automotive fields like aviation.
The plant's 8,000 workers are meanwhile being pushed through training in prefab classrooms. Some 1,500 will get special certification in how to deal with high voltage components, for instance. But Volkswagen came in and invested heavily from 1990, turning out Golfs and Passats and keeping the region of Saxony in the auto game. Today there is a large network of suppliers and service providers connected to the industry; some 20,000 work for automakers in Saxony, and 75,000 at suppliers.