WEBVTT

00:00:01.050 --> 00:00:05.450 
Collective bargaining in Wolsberg
amid the company's deepest crisis.

00:00:05.850 --> 00:00:08.310 
Enormous pressure to find a solution.

00:00:08.850 --> 00:00:11.880 
But at the start of the
second round came a bombshell.

00:00:11.890 --> 00:00:14.057 
Profits at Germany's largest carmaker

00:00:14.057 --> 00:00:16.297 
have plummeted dramatically.

00:00:17.880 --> 00:00:19.340 
Volkswagen isn't doing well.

00:00:19.360 --> 00:00:23.000 
And the reason it's not doing well is
it's that it's facing many headwinds,

00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:27.200 
actually the biggest one in its home
market in China, where buyers 

00:00:27.200 --> 00:00:30.400 
are looking more towards
homegrown brands like BYD.

00:00:30.720 --> 00:00:34.110 
But also here in Europe, where
people's budgets are pressed by

00:00:34.120 --> 00:00:38.000 
inflation and people aren't ready
to spend larger sums on 

00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:40.813 
an electricvehicle from 
Volkswagen  than on a regular vehicle 

00:00:40.813 --> 00:00:42.265 
from another company.

00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:45.510 
The group's operating profit
in the third quarter was just

00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:47.500 
under €2.9 billion.

00:00:48.470 --> 00:00:52.070 
A whopping 42% drop 
compared to the same period last year.

00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:55.230 
There are numerous reasons for this.

00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:58.640 
Production in Germany is 
too expensive and sales are too weak.

00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:02.400 
China has shifted from being 
a sales market to becoming a competitor.

00:01:02.800 --> 00:01:06.200 
Production capacities are to be
reduced at all Volkswagen sites in

00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:10.840 
Germany and plant closures next 
10s of thousands of jobs could be lost.

00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:14.520 
Some analysts argue that costs
in the country are simply too high.

00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:21.800 
I think what what adds to the cost is
clearly higher energy prices 

00:01:21.800 --> 00:01:24.709 
and then other prices
then only labour costs.

00:01:24.720 --> 00:01:30.000 
Plus we also know that 
German workers or German employees in general 

00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:34.040 
are normally higher qualified than
than employees in other countries.

00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:39.959 
Union representatives are demanding
a 7% wage increase, which Volkswagen

00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:41.900 
had already rejected in the first round.

00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:45.840 
However, according to the works
council, Volkswagen aims to enforce 

00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:49.760 
a 10% wage cut and 20
rounds in the next two years.

00:01:52.310 --> 00:01:55.870 
Volkswagen says tough cuts are
necessary to shore up its balance sheet

00:01:55.870 --> 00:01:59.270 
leaving many
employers worried about their jobs.