In an interview with German TV channel ZDF, VW Group CEO Herbert Diess confessed that his company might have to cut jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic, as the carmaker is burning through about 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) per week.
VW is currently not selling any cars outside of China, where demand has picked up somewhat. However, production is only at half the level prior to the crisis, as reported by Autonews Europe.
“We are not making sales or revenues outside of China,” said Diess, adding that VW still needs to cover fixed costs of “around 2 billion euros a week.”
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“We need to rethink production. We do not yet have the discipline that we had in China at our German locations,” he added. “Only if we, like China, Korea or other Asian states, get the problem under control then we have a chance to come through the crisis without job losses. It requires a very sharp intervention.”
VW is currently trying to figure out how to resume manufacturing while at the same time keeping its workers safe. The German brand employs 671,000 people and has 124 factories around the world – 72 of which in Europe, with 28 in Germany alone.
In a separate interview with German paper Boersen-Zeitung, VW CFO, Frank Witter said that passenger car sales were down 40% in March, and that the company has yet to tap any bank credit lines, which are said to be worth in excess of 20 billion euros ($22 billion).
The Group owns Audi, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini, and also produces Ducati motorcycles as well as MAN and Scania trucks.
