Automotive News: 'Woke' Volkswagen losing their shirt on EVs

Get Woke, go broke. Volkswagen bought into the man-made global warming scam and started selling primarily Electric Vehicles (EVs). As a result, like all EV manufacturers, they are bleeding red-ink at an alarming rate on their EVs as consumers refuse to pay the high prices for EVs and do not want to be worried about range anxiety.

Now, Volkswagen is weighing whether to close factories in Germany for the first time in its 87-year history as it moves to deepen cost cuts amid rising competition from China’s electric vehicle makers.

Unsold Chinese EVs stack up at a European port

In a statement Monday, the German automaker, one of the world’s biggest car companies, said that it could not rule out plant closures in its home country. Other measures include trying to terminate an employment protection agreement with labor unions, which has been in place since 1994.

Volkswagen, which embarked on a €10 billion ($11.1 billion) cost-cutting effort late last year, is losing market share in China, its single biggest market. In the first half of the year, deliveries to customers in that country slipped 7% on the same period in 2023. Group operating profit tumbled 11.4% to €10.1 billion ($11.2 billion).

The lackluster performance in China comes as the company loses out to local EV brands, notably BYD, which also pose an increasing threat to its business in Europe.

“Our main area of action is cost-cutting,” Blume told analysts on an earnings call last month, citing planned reductions to factory, supply chain and labor expenses. “We have done all the organizational steps needed. And now it is about costs, costs and costs,” he added.