Volkswagen shutters historic German plant as Trump – Business News
Volkswagen is ending vehicle manufacturing at its Dresden manufacturing facility — the primary time within the automaker’s 88-year historical past that it has closed a plant in its home nation — as weakening demand and punishing US tariffs squeeze the German car giant.
The final vehicle rolled off the road Tuesday on the Dresden website, recognized as the “Transparent Factory” as a result of of its glass-walled design, capping 24 years of manufacturing that started in 2001.
Volkswagen had warned final 12 months that manufacturing cuts had been coming as gross sales softened in Europe and China and tariffs hammered ends in the US, one of its most important export markets.
Volkswagen is ending vehicle manufacturing at its Dresden manufacturing facility — the primary time within the automaker’s 88-year historical past that it has closed a plant in its home nation. Getty Images
The automaker mentioned the Dresden facility can be transformed into a technology analysis hub targeted on artificial intelligence, robotics and chip design, ending its position as a vehicle meeting website.
“We did not take the decision to end vehicle production at the Transparent Factory after more than 20 years lightly,” Volkswagen model CEO Thomas Schäfer mentioned in a assertion.
“From an economic perspective, however, it was absolutely necessary.”
Volkswagen mentioned it reached an settlement with its works council protecting the plant’s remaining 230 workers.
Workers can be provided severance packages, early retirement choices or transfers to different company places in Germany.
The Dresden manufacturing facility has produced a number of of Volkswagen’s flagship fashions over time, beginning with the posh Phaeton sedan earlier than shifting to the e-Golf hatchback and later the ID.3 electric vehicle.
Factory employees hooked up their signature to the ultimate car constructed on the website — a crimson ID.3 GTX electric car — can be signed by employees and stay on show on the website.
The final vehicle rolled off the road Tuesday on the Dresden website, recognized as the “Transparent Factory,” capping 24 years of manufacturing that started in 2001. Getty Images
Volkswagen mentioned it reached an settlement with its works council protecting the plant’s remaining 230 workers. Getty Images
The closure exhibits the mounting strain on Germany’s largest automaker, which has struggled with high vitality and labor prices at home whereas navigating turbulence throughout its world markets.
Volkswagen has been hit notably laborious by President Trump’s tariffs, which the company blamed partially for a $1.5 billion loss final quarter.
The automaker mentioned tariff-related prices are anticipated to exceed $5 billion within the subsequent 12 months, a hit that has pressured executives to reassess manufacturing footprints and future investments.
Volkswagen’s struggles mirror broader weak spot within the German economic system, which shrank in 2023 and 2024 and has remained stagnant this 12 months.
