Audi is to cut up to 9,500 jobs at its German factories by 2025 to save 6 billion euros (US$6.6 billion) to invest in electric vehicles (EV) and digital technology.
The luxury automaker, which is part of Volkswagen AG, said the job cuts were part of its mission to “become lean and fit for the future.”
The company, which is based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, said it would also hire 2,000 workers in “new expert positions in areas such as electric mobility and digitalization.”
The cuts would make Audi more agile and efficient, chief executive Bram Schot said.
“This will increase productivity and sustainably strengthen the competitiveness of our German plants,” he said.
The job cuts, which equate to more than 10 percent of Audi’s total staff, come less than two weeks after rival German luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz said it intended to cut more than 1,000 jobs by the end of 2022 as it struggles to meet new tougher emissions targets.
“The company must become lean and fit for the future, which means that some job profiles will no longer be needed and new ones will be created,” Audi said in a statement.
“The works council [‘shop-floor’ organization representing workers] and the company’s management have agreed to cut up to 9,500 jobs until 2025. This will take place along the demographic curve — in particular through employee turnover and a new, attractive early retirement program. An equivalent percentage staff reduction will take place in management,” it said.
“We have reached an important milestone: The jobs of our core workforce are secure. The extension of the employment guarantee is a great success in difficult times,” works council chairman Peter Mosch said.
Audi said it would produce 450,000 vehicles a year at its Ingolstadt factory, and 225,000 at its facility in Neckarsulm, near Stuttgart.
That means a reduction of about 40,000 vehicles at Ingolstadt and an increase of about the same number at Neckarsulm.
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