The arrival of Chinese manufacturers Europe is being tremendous, with a good number of brands landing strongly in the different markets. Attempts have been made to put brakes on the situation, through tariffs, but it seems that not even those are going to stop its progress. In fact, they are also considering production on our continent by opening facilities to avoid taxes. It has now been confirmed that they are interested in the factories that Volkswagen wants to leave in order to gain more influence.
Volkswagen Group is in a difficult situation. has had to take drastic decisions to survivewith the recent announcement of 35,000 layoffs by 2030. Although they promised to maintain their main production centers, the truth is that there are facilities that they want to leave. That’s where the Chinese come in, as government officials and manufacturers are working together on expansion. Manufacturing in Germany would mean entering the nerve center of Europewhile skipping tariffs.
What could happen is still pending, since in Germany there are elections in February and the result will influence the revenue given to China. While this situation is clarified, everything points to two places: the factories in Dresden and Osnabrück. They are the Volkswagen facilities that are most in danger and that are in the spotlight. The Dresden company runs out of cars to produce this year and is waiting. The Osnabrück company will continue producing the T-Roc Cabrio until mid-2027 and has no scheduled activity from then on.
The negotiations with unions They have been tough and hence the announcement not to close factories. But the reality is that Volkswagen would benefit from selling some of these centers and the one in Osnabrück seems to already have a Chinese suitor. The key would be to give continuity to the activity in the area and to maintain the interests of the company and employees. Chinese manufacturers, logically, have some concern about how they would be received by the German unions, which are very strong.
That’s where agreements could be reached of joint venture to maintain Volkswagen standards and conditions. Just as Volkswagen has partnered with SAIC to produce in China, an intermediate option could be carried out. What is clear is that Chinese investors they are very interested in the industry German automaker and that in the coming years there could be movement.
