BMW and Volkswagen reduce hours for 86,000 workers

BMW and Volkswagen reduce hours for 86,000 workers

According to Bloomberg, the two German giants, Volkswagen and BMW will reduce hours for 86,000 workers in order to cut costs as the demand for vehicles has decreased. Last year, Germany and the United States (two of the most important markets for both car makers) saw deliveries dropping by 2 percent, respectively 18 percent, 2008 being the worst year in decades.
As a result, BMW announced that they’ll drop shifts for 26,000 workers in February and March, which means the company will build 10 percent less vehicles. The factories affected by this drop will be the ones in Dingolfing and Regensburg, and the production of the 3 and 7 Series will be reduced by 38,000 units. "Conditions remain challenging on the international automotive markets," Munich-based BMW said today in a statement. "This trend also has an impact on the BMW Group."

On the other hand, Volkswagen will close five German factories (Wolfsburg, Emden, Hanover, Zwickau and Dresden) between February 23 and 27, reducing the output of Golf, Passat and Phaeton models. "The current market situation naturally has an impact on our coworkers," Bernd Osterloh, Volkswagen's works-council head, said in a statement. He said accounts of overtime hours were largely empty.

Source: Bloomberg