WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Car maker Volkswagen plans to close at least three factories in Germany and cut tens of thousands of jobs as part of a deeper-than-expected restructuring, the head of the committee said on Monday. group company.

Europe’s largest automaker, which is also Germany’s largest employer, has been negotiating with unions for weeks over its restructuring and cost-cutting plans, as it considers plant closures for the first time. factories in his country.

“Management is completely serious about this. This is not a sabre-rattling in collective negotiations,” said Daniela Cavallo, president of the Volkswagen works council, in front of several hundred employees. in Wolfsburg.

“This is the plan of Germany’s largest industrial group to begin selling its assets in its home country of Germany,” she said.

Daniela Cavallo did not specify which factories would be affected or how many of the group’s approximately 300,000 employees in Germany could be laid off.

Volkswagen, Europe’s leading automobile manufacturer, announced in early September the possible closure of at least two factories in Germany, a first, with the prospect of some 20,000 job cuts.

The group reiterated on Monday that comprehensive restructuring measures were necessary to make the company competitive in the long term.

“This is the only way to finance new investments in the future from our own resources,” the company said in a statement, without giving specific details of its restructuring plan.

These comments mark a turning point in the conflict between workers and management of the group, under intense pressure to reduce costs and remain competitive in the face of falling demand in China and Europe.

They also increase pressure on the German government to act in the face of the persistent weakness of its economy.

“It is common knowledge that Volkswagen is in a difficult situation,” a German government spokesperson said at a news conference on Monday, adding that Berlin was in close contact with the automaker as well as the employee representatives.

Daniela Cavallo said Berlin must urgently present a master plan for the country’s industry to avoid its collapse.

According to Daniela Cavallo, both sides agree on the nature of the problems facing the automaker, like much of the European auto sector, whether it is a transition slower than expected or the entry of Chinese rivals into Europe.

“We are not far apart when it comes to analyzing the problems. But we are miles apart when it comes to the answers to them.”

(Reporting by Axel Schmidt, Christina Amann, Rachel More and Christoph Steitz, Diana Mandiá, editing by Zhifan Liu and Augustin Turpin)

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