{"id":61932,"date":"2026-09-05T11:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T15:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/merz-warns-of-more-industrial-job-losses-amid-volkswagen-crisis\/05\/09\/2026\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T11:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T15:28:08","slug":"merz-warns-of-more-industrial-job-losses-amid-volkswagen-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/merz-warns-of-more-industrial-job-losses-amid-volkswagen-crisis\/05\/09\/2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Merz warns of more industrial job losses amid Volkswagen crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at an event organized by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Lower Saxony. (is associated with: \u00abMerz warns of more industrial job losses amid Volkswagen crisis\u00bb) Moritz Frankenberg\/dpa <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned of further losses of industrial jobs in Germany amid the crisis at Volkswagen. <\/p>\n

Volkswagen was emblematic of the difficult situation facing the automotive industry in Germany and Europe, Merz said on Saturday at a campaign event for his conservative party near Hanover. <\/p>\n

“We are currently losing industrial jobs on a large scale,” Merz warned, shortly before local elections in Lower Saxony. This trend had to be stopped, and he was determined to stop it. “Germany must remain an industrial nation!” <\/p>\n

The Volkswagen Group – which owns brands such as Audi, Porsche and \u0160koda – is one of several German carmakers seeking to become more efficient and cost-effective in the face of intense competition from China. <\/p>\n

The company announced plans to cut 50,000 positions by 2030. Earlier this week, the group agreed to a further reduction of roughly 50,000 positions, meaning that planned workforce reductions could total about 100,000 by the end of the decade. <\/p>\n

The chancellor welcomed the recent agreement reached in the Volkswagen supervisory board. An open dispute over the leadership of the company would have been “anything but helpful.” The agreement was, however, only provisional at this time, he said. <\/p>\n

Merz highlighted the particular importance of the carmaker to Lower Saxony. “No state is as strongly shaped by a single large industrial company as Lower Saxony.” <\/p>\n

The fate of Volkswagen was therefore not comparable to that of an ordinary private-sector company, he said. The carmaker also supported numerous jobs at suppliers and in trade and commerce. <\/p>\n

Future of four German VW plants remains uncertain <\/h2>\n

The Volkswagen supervisory board had approved a comprehensive restructuring of the group, involving the further elimination of tens of thousands of jobs and a reduction in the model range. The future of four German plants remains open for now. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at an event organized by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Lower Saxony. (is associated with: «Merz