In a board meeting, Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess noted that the company could lose as many as 30,000 jobs if there are any delays in VW’s to transition to EVs.
The stunning warning comes as Tesla and other automakers entered the European, and specifically the German market.
Tesla, which plans to have around 12,000 employees at Giga Berlin, will be able to produce 500,000 cars in Germany alone. That number is in stark contrast to VW, which has 25,000 employees in Germany where the company produced 700,000 EVs at their Wolfsburg plant.
“There is no question that we have to address the competitiveness of our plant in Wolfsburg in view of new market entrants,” Volkswagen spokesperson Michael Manske told Reuters.
EV production lines have fewer parts, and thus, automakers need fewer workers to complete the work. According to one estimate, Germany could lose 100,000 auto industry jobs by 2025 due to electrification.
However, the leading auto working unions in the country do not believe that this estimate is accurate.
VW is at a bit of a crossroads. What the company does over the next 6-12 months will determine where it plays in the broader EV industry. However, as per the CEO, nothing has been decided, and the company is still years away from its full EV strategy becoming a reality.
