{"id":307674,"date":"2026-05-18T11:45:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/?p=307674"},"modified":"2026-05-18T11:45:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T09:45:56","slug":"vw-reduce-significativamente-el-exceso-de-capacidad-en-alemania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/es\/2026\/05\/18\/vw-significantly-cuts-overcapacity-in-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"VW reduce significativamente el exceso de capacidad en Alemania"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

By the end of 2024, tensions between Volkswagen\u2019s management and its workforce had reached a critical point. The carmaker threatened to close plants, while employees resisted the immense pressure, with widespread strikes looming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Volkswagen and Germany\u2019s IG Metall union reached a compromise in the collective bargaining dispute shortly before Christmas 2024,<\/a> averting major plant closures. In return, the agreement includes 35,000 job cuts by 2030, while VW plans to reduce production capacity in Germany by more than 700,000 vehicles, including battery-electric models. At the time, the company said the collective agreement would enable annual labour cost savings of \u20ac1.5 billion by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year and a half later, VW brand CEO Thomas Sch\u00e4fer reports noticeable progress in reducing overcapacities. \u201cWe have completed everything except for the final part \u2014 the Osnabr\u00fcck plant, where we are still seeking a solution,\u201d Sch\u00e4fer told Automobilwoche<\/em>. Volkswagen achieved the reduction by scaling back production lines at German sites without closing any plants. Only the Gl\u00e4serne Manufaktur Dresden halted car production entirely, as previously reported, with the site now set to become an innovation campus.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project ‘Gamechanger’ gains space in Wolfsburg<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Automobilwoche<\/em>, VW reduced production at the Zwickau and Emden plants from two lines to one (each operating two shifts). In Wolfsburg, the company now operates only two of the original four lines. The space freed up, as reported, could benefit the Gamechanger project<\/a>, a novel production method aimed at building models faster and more efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Volkswagen plans to use the launch of its upcoming SSP electric platform<\/a> and the relocation of Golf production to Mexico <\/a>to introduce a new production process at its Wolfsburg headquarters. While the company has yet to disclose details of the ‘Gamechanger’ project, it has confirmed that the concept will include large-scale casting methods. Also known as megacasting, the process replaces numerous individual body components with a small number of large cast parts. Tesla pioneered the approach in the automotive industry, but several carmakers have since adopted similar methods, including Volvo Cars for the upcoming Volvo EX60.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ID. Golf not expected before 2030<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Automobilwoche<\/em>, the Gamechanger project is set to take effect by the end of the decade for the battery-electric vehicles built in Wolfsburg on the SSP platform\u2014namely, the electric Golf and a planned SUV counterpart<\/a>. Following current naming logic, the compact electric vehicle would be called the ID. Golf, just as the smaller VW T-Cross is set to become the electric ID. Cross. Regarding the timeline, Sch\u00e4fer confirmed to Autocar<\/em> that VW will not launch the ID. Golf before the end of the decade: “We have a fantastic line-up now that we do not need an electric Golf in 2028. We are well set with what we have in our portfolio with our vehicles.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, a media report indicated that the production start for the ID. Golf and ID. Roc had been postponed to 2030<\/a>, after the fully electric Golf was initially planned for 2028<\/a> and later 2029<\/a>. Sch\u00e4fer also reiterated that the first vehicles based on the new SSP platform would come from the premium brands Audi and Porsche. He stated: \u201cSSP, we will roll it out across the [VW Group] brands. We will start with the premium brands first…\u00a0It will start with Audi, then Porsche, then us [VW] and on and on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Meanwhile, the future of VW\u2019s Osnabr\u00fcck plant remains uncertain. Production there is soon to end, and ‘discussions have been held in all directions,’ as Automobilwoche<\/em> reports\u2014so far without results. VW\u2019s close Chinese partner, Xpeng, is now also mentioned as a potential interested party, with negotiations reportedly underway about capacities in Europe. Xpeng currently manufactures its models at contract manufacturer Magna Steyr in Austria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xpeng also considers building new plant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Financial Times <\/em>quoted Elvis Cheng, Xpeng\u2019s Managing Director for Northeast Europe, as saying: “We are\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009discussing with [Volkswagen] to see if there is any possibility we can find a location here in Europe.” Cheng thus confirms a general interest, though Osnabr\u00fcck is not explicitly mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April,<\/a> VW Group CEO Oliver Blume said Volkswagen\u2019s European plants remain too expensive and underutilised. The company therefore plans to further reduce significant overcapacities in both China and Europe. However, Blume again said Volkswagen intends to avoid plant closures in Germany through what he described as an ‘intelligent’ approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He cited Osnabr\u00fcck as an example, where VW vehicle production will end, but the site itself is to be preserved: \u201cWe are negotiating with companies in the defence industry that could use this plant and retain the workforce. That is what I mean by intelligent. We must develop pathways to reduce our own overcapacities in a similar manner.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is clear that partnering with Chinese companies could theoretically be one such pathway. Stellantis is thinking along similar lines and is reportedly in talks with Xpeng<\/a> about production in underutilised European plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheng also told the Financial Times <\/em>that the production line in Steyr is reaching its capacity limits and that his company is considering building a new European plant. \u201cWe think not all the factories can satisfy the requirements of our latest or future product requirements,\u201d Cheng said, adding that Volkswagen\u2019s plants were ‘a little bit old.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

automobilwoche.de<\/a> (in German), ft.com<\/a> (Xpeng), autocar.co.uk<\/a> (ID. Golf)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A finales de 2024, las tensiones entre la direcci\u00f3n de Volkswagen y su plantilla hab\u00edan llegado a un punto cr\u00edtico. El fabricante de autom\u00f3viles amenazaba con cerrar plantas, mientras que los empleados se resist\u00edan a la<\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":307673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9930],"tags":[1604,16325,9961,27455,1034,22682,567,1263,13267,2499],"class_list":["post-307674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-automobile","tag-dresden","tag-emden","tag-germany","tag-id-golf","tag-osnabruck","tag-ssp","tag-volkswagen","tag-wolfsburg","tag-xpeng","tag-zwickau"],"acf":{"post_article-format":{"value":"standard","label":"Standard"},"post_categories":[9930],"post_tags":[567,9961,2499,1604,1034,13267,16325,1263,22682,27455],"post_thumbnail":307673,"post_thumbnail_listing":false,"post_teaser-text":"Volkswagen agreed with Germany\u2019s IG Metall union at the end of 2024 to cut domestic production capacity by more than 700,000 vehicles and has now largely completed the reduction. Meanwhile, Xpeng confirmed talks with Volkswagen about the use of a plant in Europe.","post_advert":false,"post_legacy":false,"post_original_image":false,"to_translate":true,"post_thumbnail-caption":"","is_translated":true,"date_translation":"2026-05-18 09:31:29","post_id_net":"473698","slug_net":"vw-meldet-merklich-abgebaute-ueberkapazitaeten-in-deutschland","post_id_com":"307674","slug_com":"vw-reports-significant-reduction-of-overcapacities-in-germany"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307674"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":307683,"href":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307674\/revisions\/307683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.electrive.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}