Volkswagen wants to save money – also because demand is below sales plans. Melissa Erichsen/picture alliance via Getty Images
A massive savings program is putting Volkswagen management under pressure. The car manufacturer’s core brand is expected to improve its earnings by ten billion euros.
According to a report by “Handelsblatt”, VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer wants his top people to show more presence – and work regularly in the office instead of from home.
Most recently, Business Insider revealed a confidential letter to executives with strict cost guidelines.
At Volkswagen, the top managers should apparently move closer together. The German car manufacturer’s core brand is facing a massive savings program that aims to improve its earnings by ten billion euros. According to a report in “Handelsblatt”, VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer now wants to have his management around him more often.
Managers should return from their home office and be present in the office four days a week. This was reported to the newspaper by several participants in a meeting that Schäfer had scheduled in Wolfsburg on Friday. The CEO himself commutes between Ireland and the company headquarters in Lower Saxony. A VW spokesman did not comment on the content of the meeting to the “Handelsblatt”.
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Schäfer is said to have already identified the biggest areas of action for his austerity program, the newspaper reports, citing corporate circles. The technical development of the vehicles, sales and procurement are mentioned. At the same time, doubts are increasing in the background as to whether the plans for the main brand can be implemented quickly enough.
Business Insider had already reported last week on a confidential letter to executives in which VW brand finance chief Patrik Andreas Mayer set strict cost targets to “reduce investments”. The background is also the sluggish demand for new cars. In their investment calculations, the VW managers should plan, for example in terms of material usage, tool wear and energy costs, with a fifth fewer cars than the sales department’s sales targets.
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