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Final acceptance of an ID.3 at the Transparent Factory

Photo: Robert Michael / dpa

The news had caused great unrest, especially in Saxony: Volkswagen was considering discontinuing vehicle production at the Transparent Factory in Dresden, the "Automobilwoche" reported at the weekend. However, the location should be preserved. Business circles confirmed to SPIEGEL that a new concept for the small but symbolic location is currently being worked on. Nothing has yet been decided, but the fact is that the small-scale production of several thousand models of the ID.3 electric car per year is not particularly promising. The jobs of the more than 300 employees are secure, they just have to adjust to new tasks if necessary.

After a regular works meeting at the Transparent Factory this Thursday, a spokesman for Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH – which includes the plants in Dresden, Zwickau and Chemnitz – spoke up. Vehicle production of the ID.3 in Dresden is still continuing, and "no short-term adjustments are planned". At present, however, Volkswagen is examining with an open mind "how the site can be made sustainable and future-proof". To this end, the company is in talks with the employee representatives. The job security for the approximately 300 employees remains unchanged.

The company has made it clear that the Transparent Factory will continue to produce for the time being, a participant in the works meeting told SPIEGEL. However, according to VW, the mandate of the Group's board of directors to develop a viable future concept for the site must now be in the foreground. The group-wide so-called performance program, with the help of which Volkswagen wants to increase its profits, will not leave the Dresden site unscathed.

As far as the number of units produced is concerned, the plant in Dresden is not of great importance to the VW Group. However, it has great symbolic value. The Transparent Factory was a pet project of the now deceased VW patriarch Ferdinand Piëch, where he first had the – now discontinued – luxury vehicle Phaeton produced. With around 100,000 visitors a year, the small plant is still one of the main attractions of the Saxon capital. Since the end of the Phaeton, however, the group has been looking for a new, permanent task for the site. According to VW insiders, the fact that a few dozen ID.3 electric cars are now being produced there every day is more of a temporary solution.

Changes are also imminent at the VW plant in Zwickau in Saxony. There, the group wants to cut jobs due to weakening demand for its electric cars. Currently, there is talk of almost 270 employees whose fixed-term contracts are about to expire and who will not be renewed.

The situation of the auto industry was also a topic in the state parliament on Thursday. However, the AfD's criticism of the switch to electric cars at VW in Zwickau almost three years ago was met with incomprehension by other parliamentary groups. "We can't continue as we have done so far and then find out in five years that other manufacturers from the USA or China offer products, and our products are no longer in demand," said CDU MP Jan Hippold. The transformation of the automotive industry is not always linear and painless. It is a challenge, but also offers opportunities for new jobs.

In his speech, AfD parliamentary group leader Jörg Urban had previously blamed a "political hype about e-mobility" for the weakening demand at VW. The policy from black to red to yellow and green has always created new obstacles for the hitherto successful German internal combustion engine," said Urban.

"The biggest mistake that politicians could make now would be not to continue to promote the innovation process or even to talk it down," countered SPD state chairman Henning Homann. Saxony is a car state and wants to stay that way. Singing the swan song for the e-car now is insubstantial and irresponsible. "Anyone who does this is doing a disservice to the employees and Saxony's industry," Homann criticized.

According to Left Party MP Nico Brünler, the causes of the slump in sales at the Zwickau plant lie rather "in general inflation and negative expectations for the future". Other causes are the gaps in the charging infrastructure and the reduction of subsidies. Green Party MP Gerhard Liebscher expressed a similar view. "I ask you to understand what the industry has long understood: We will have to operate in a climate-neutral manner."

At the end, SPD Minister of Social Affairs Petra Köpping promised support to the workers in Zwickau. They need "security for their perspective".

With material from dpa

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