While Volkswagen Group bosses in Germany have recently had tough conversations with employees about cuts, the carmaker’s Australian arm is confident the car giant’s local operations will continue as usual.
In September, Volkswagen Group chief financial officer Arno Antlitz attended a meeting of 25,000 employees at the company’s headquarters in Wolfsburg to say they needed to work with management to cut spending.
“We have been spending more money on the brand than we earn for some time now. That cannot go well in the long term. If we continue like this, we will not succeed in the transformation,” he said, reportedly drawing cheers from the audience.
The transformation in question is Volkswagen’s shift to electric vehicles (EVs), which has faced difficulties in Europe due to changes in subsidies – not to mention slowing global demand.
But in Australia, where electric cars are not yet the main car of choice, the cost cuts in Germany are expected to have little to no impact on Volkswagen’s local operations.
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Paul Pottinger, general manager of corporate communications for Volkswagen Group Australia, says Australia and Europe present two “completely different” situations for the brand.
“Our situation in Australia is unique in so many ways, not least the fact that our relationship with electric cars is maturing. It is not full-fledged or completed like in Europe – we are a completely different state,” he said.
“I’m often asked ‘is the slowdown in EV sales a problem for Australia?’ – well, no, because we are ten years behind Europe. I don’t think our situation is in any way congruent with what is or is not happening there.”
Volkswagen Group Australia product and PR communications manager Daniel DeGasperi echoed Mr Pottinger’s comments, saying a “significant refresh” of the VW brand’s Australian showroom was on the way, which “presents a huge opportunity for the Volkswagen brand”.
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ID.5
Volkswagen’s global shift to electric cars has been an on-again, off-again affair. Reports from late 2023 suggested the brand was slowing its electric vehicle rollout in Europe, while plans to build further dedicated factories were postponed.
At the time, Antlitz said European EV orders fell by 50 percent, from 300,000 in 2022 to 150,000.
More recently, the brand has reportedly postponed the launch of its flagship Trinity EV to make way for the new electric Golf, which could debut earlier than 2029, despite suggestions that Volkswagen had recently pushed back the 2028 launch by 15 months.
The Trinity was first due to be released in 2026 and then in 2028, 2030 and now reportedly in 2032. The delay was blamed on software-related issues, with Volkswagen planning to build a dedicated factory for the Trinity after a €2 billion investment (A$3.2 billion). investment.
Those plans were canceled last October, when it was confirmed that the Trinity and Golf EV would instead be built at a pre-existing factory in Zwickau.
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Q6 e-tron
In Australia, the Volkswagen brand EV range will consist of the ID.4, ID.5 and ID. Buzz, as well as electric options for the new Transporter and Caravelle models, all of which should be added to the range over the next twelve months.
The wider Volkswagen Australia Group also sells electric vehicles such as the Cupra Born and soon the Tavascan, the Skoda Elroq and Enyaq, and the Audi Q4 e-tron, Q6 e-tron and A6 e-tron. Mr DeGasperi says despite the situation overseas, Volkswagen Group Australia is looking forward to the upcoming models.
“We’ve never had a time where we got a brand new Multivan, a brand new Transporter or a Caravelle in such a short space of time,” he said.
“And certainly not with the kind of powertrains we are going to offer, especially not with the Transporter and Caravelle – it is a major innovation.”
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