Volkswagen Chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch stated that politicians have imposed electric vehicle transition targets without the necessary infrastructure and without considering whether customers are willing to switch to electric cars. He urged the EU to reconsider its emission targets and provide clear goals for the automotive industry, as the automaker is looking at unprecedented cuts to jobs and factory closures in Germany.
He pointed out that policymakers set difficult climate ambitions but did not fully consider the steps necessary to reach those goals. The targets need to be reality-based to give the industry more time. He added, “Electric mobility is the future of individual mobility, but I cannot emphasize this enough.”
Pötsch oversees Volkswagen at a challenging time for the German automotive industry, which is grappling with rising costs and fierce competition from Tesla and Chinese manufacturers led by BYD and SAIC. Volkswagen canceled job protections that had been in place for three decades last Tuesday after warning last week that it might have to close factories in Europe’s largest economy for the first time.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Pötsch said talks with labor representatives and unions, who hold unusually strong influence at Volkswagen, could continue until the end of the year. He noted, “At this stage of the process, it is really important to convince people that there is no way around structural changes.”
He emphasized that the EU “now needs to create the conditions for the success of electric mobility in terms of power and charging networks, raw materials, vehicles, and investment support.” Labor representatives hold half of the seats on the company’s supervisory board, and the German state of Lower Saxony, which owns a 20% stake, often aligns with union bodies.
In his remarks, Pötsch stated that the automotive sector needs “innovative and competitive products and strong cooperation from politics, business, and society.” This sentiment was echoed by Renault CEO Luca de Meo, who said automakers should cooperate with Chinese companies and learn from them.
