The Audi plant in Neckarsulm appears to be recovering after the crisis. Because of the high demand, there are special shifts in February. Now, however, new details about the diesel scandal are becoming known.
- Audi recently had a crisis - also at the Neckarsulm location.
- Scandals scratched Audi's image - including the diesel scandal.
- New details come to light.
Audi Neckarsulm: New details on the diesel scandal
Update of February 10: Audi has often been in the headlines lately. First came the diesel scandal, then the crisis at the Neckarsulm location. However, one thing seemed to have been overcome: the diesel scandal! Now, however, new details about the diesel scandal are coming to light. Audi is said to have destroyed important papers on the diesel affair. As the business magazine "Business Insider" reports, the Audi engineers are said to have destroyed hundreds of thousands of documents relating to the scandal. The information apparently comes from strictly confidential papers from a business law firm. Four and a half years ago, Audi parent company VW asked the firm to clarify the diesel scandal. The business law firm then collected over 9,000 files, as SWR.de reports.
Audi Neckarsulm: Public prosecutor searches premises
In March 2017, the public prosecutor's office searched Audi premises in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm, as well as the business law firm, and confiscated the relevant documents. At the request of the German Press Agency, an Audi spokesman said the allegations were known, "and they have been sufficiently investigated". But they are the subject of prosecutorial investigations, "about which we do not comment," he added. Does the Audi parent company VW have more to hide? Because the question of whether the public prosecutor's office is allowed to evaluate the seized papers even went to the Federal Constitutional Court, where the judges rejected VW's complaint, however, writes SWR.de.
According to the "Business Insider", the seized documents show that diesel files at Audi in Ingolstadt were deleted or shredded in 2015. Eyewitnesses reported that so many documents were destroyed that the floor was covered with shredded paper. According to employees, there was panic at Audi in Ingolstadt after the allegations of exhaust gas manipulation became known.
Update from January 31st: "The company controls the production at the Neckarsulm location flexibly, taking into account the current market conditions, " a spokesman told echo24.de *. The market inquiries are currently positive and would be responded to.
For the Audi A6 and Audi A7 models, therefore, special shifts will take place in the A6 / A7 assembly on February 1, 8, 15 and 22. It goes on to say: "The production procedure is discussed monthly between the management and the works council ."
Update from January 27: The future of Audi in Neckarsulm is closely linked to the fuel cell. After all, the plant is to become the center of excellence for hydrogen-powered cars in the long term. A statement by VW CEO Herbert Diess shows in a speech published by the Handelsblatt: "The fuel cell and liquid fuels are at basic levels. They are on a foreseeable time horizon of at least a decade no alternative to car engines. "
Audi Neckarsulm: Small series and commercial vehicles with fuel cells
In Wolfsburg and Ingolstadt, the focus is initially entirely on electromobility. However , the small series of an SUV with hydrogen drive from Audi announced for 2022 or 2023 should still come. The VW transporter with hydrogen drive presented at the IAA is still being considered.
In addition to cars, Audi also has other fuel cell applications in mind at Neckarsulm. The head of development for the fuel cells at Audi and also in the VW group Jürgen Jablonski said at a congress in Hanau: "Range and refueling play an important role in the introduction of the fuel cell. And that is where heavy goods traffic automatically comes in." In addition, the fuel cell from Audi in Neckarsulm is being developed in such a way that it can also be used in trains, ships or airplanes .
Audi Neckarsulm: Fuel cell still too expensive
But why is Audi taking so much time if the cooperation partner Hyundai already offers a hydrogen car with a range of over 700 kilometers with the Nexo? The reason is simple, the fuel cell is still too expensive . Hyundai charges at least € 69,000 for its Nexo . For Jablonski, however, it is important "to make money with the fuel cell too."
Audi: In 2019 there were again more deliveries - belts are gradually starting up
January 10 update: Audi has good news. The balance sheet for 2019 is positive for the automaker, despite reduced production towards the end of the year. There were 1.8 percent more Audi deliveries in 2019 compared to 2018.
December was a particularly strong month in terms of delivery. In total, 13.9 percent more cars were delivered. Deliveries were up 20.4 percent across Europe. In Germany, 7.3 percent received their Audi. The Chinese market also grew: 9 percent more cars were delivered here.
A total of 1,835,550 cars were delivered by Audi in 2019. "In 2019 we clearly showed the potential of our brand and our young model portfolio. Even if the requirements remain high in 2020, we have set the course for further growth," said Audi Director for Sales and Marketing, Hiildegard Wortmann in one Press release from the group.
Update from January 8, 2020: The lines at Audi have been gradually restarting since Tuesday, December 7. "The B and C series resumed production as planned. Production in the R series starts again today, January 8, and production in the D series starts again on January 13," explains a press spokesman on request from echo24.de.
But what about the future of the Audi plants in Neckarsulm and Ingolstadt ? Employees were promised job security until the end of 2029. With a platform- oriented plant occupancy and optimized plant capacity and productivity , both locations are to be made permanently fit for the future .
In order to secure the way to the future production of electric cars in Neckarsulm, the "Electrification Neckarsulm" fund is to be set up. This should create a financial basis for the necessary construction work for the production of electric cars. 300 million euros should flow there by 2025 . Initially, 50 million will be invested, and the fund is to be increased to 50 million annually.
Works meeting at Audi - Chairman calls for concrete measures
Update from December 10: The works meeting at the Audi plant in Neckarsulm is over. At the end of November, the General Works Council and the Board of Management at Audi agreed on a course for the next decade . This was welcomed by Rolf Klotz, the chairman of the works council. But: At the same time, he referred to the forthcoming design of the agreed key points in 2020. Klotz: "The past few months have required a lot from us all. I am glad that the uncertainty about the future of our location has now ended." He sees the development of a master plan for the strategic orientation of the plant in Neckarsulm as an important cornerstone of the agreed basic agreement. Now you have to work hard on this - Klotz: “We have created a good foundation for the next decade . Building on this, Audi must now also present a concrete concept for our technical development at the location. "
The chairman of the works council, however, thinks little of "short-term savings", especially to breathe new life into the claim "advance through technology" , be it the wrong way. As a result, a 300 million euro fund is to be set up in Neckarsulm as a financial basis for the production of electric cars by 2025. That would also secure the capacity utilization of the location, make it flexible for the future and therefore more economical, said Göbel. Concrete measures are also necessary for the production on site . Over the past three years, the plant in Neckarsulm has only been used to a little more than 60 percent. "That will not improve significantly in the next two to three years," fears Klotz and therefore demands: "If the company cannot increase the sales of our models, we expect solutions for the affected colleagues in the manufacturing areas.
Audi in Neckarsulm: Does this plan secure the future of the location?
Update of December 3: Job cuts, diesel recalls, future plans - the change in the automotive industry is clearly noticeable at Audi. At the Neckarsulm location, there has recently been uncertainty as to how the plant will position itself in this development in the coming years. One thing in particular was discussed here: the electromobility plan. But there is another branch that Audi wants to drive forward in Neckarsulm . Could this strengthen the location ?
If you believe some researchers, the development and production of electric cars is not necessarily the way for the future of the auto industry. Instead, according to tz.de *, many now see hydrogen as the much more sensible and effective drive for cars. And here the Neckarsulm location in the Volkswagen Group is in the "lead function" , as press spokesman Sebastian Neumair told echo24.de.
Audi in Neckarsulm: hydrogen as a drive for the future?
"The fuel cell expertise in Neckarsulm is being expanded. There was an extensive qualification program for fuel cell development," says Neumair. The team for this consists of 60 percent internal employees. These were also further developed in cooperation with the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences. Audi is currently also looking for additional experts - both internally and externally.
At the same time, there are already clear plans for the development of hydrogen cars . Neumair: "We are planning an upper-class SUV with a fuel cell in the form of a small series from the beginning of the next decade. The development work for the start of series production of the h-tron small series is proceeding according to plan. The prototype construction has already begun, as have the first test drives." Everything at the Neckarsulm location.
Audi and Hyundai: Cooperation on fuel cells
Hydrogen has been an issue at Audi for twenty years. The problem: So far, a production model has not jumped around. However, this could actually change in a timely manner. In 2018 , Audi and Hyundai agreed on a patent exchange for fuel cells. And that could be the decisive impetus.
With the Nexo, Hyundai is already producing the second generation of a fuel cell SUV . According to echo24.de information, the car sells well despite the rather poor infrastructure. Also because thanks to subsidies the price is "only" 69,000 euros .
Should Audi follow suit in a timely manner, this could actually be an innovative way for a strong location in Neckarsulm . Because hydrogen is often classified as an indispensable drive , particularly in commercial vehicles. And in China - after all, the world's largest car market - the topic has long been an integral part of future planning.
Audi Neckarsulm: Heilbronn federal politicians take a stand on the situation
Update of November 28: It has been clear since the beginning of this week: The works council and the management of Audi have been able to agree. However, this is not just good news. Because: Around 9,500 jobs are to be cut across Germany - at least this should be socially acceptable. The Neckarsulm plant will also be affected, 1,500 jobs could be lost.
SPD member of the Bundestag Josip Juratovic expresses calls for cooperation in the Audi crisis
The situation at Audi affects and concerns people across Germany, and the Heilbronn region is particularly affected . The Heilbronn SPD member of the Bundestag, Josip Juratovic, said in a press release on the basic agreement : "I welcome the fact that, thanks to the strong employee representation at Audi, we have been able to secure the employment guarantee until 2029. Nevertheless, we now urgently need a regional summit to ensure job security to discuss in the automotive industry along the entire value chain for the Heilbronn-Franken region and to align it for the future. " Juratovic makes it very clear how he thinks things must go on in the Audi crisis . Juratovic: "I expect that the employers' organizations will work in cooperation with the unions and bring all politically relevant forces to the table. For me, these are the federal, state and local authorities - we now have to act in the region for the region ."
Audi Neckarsulm: CDU member of the Bundestag Alexander Throm calls for support
The Heilbronn CDU member of the Bundestag, Alexander Throm, also takes a position on the Audi location in Neckarsulm - and particularly points out the need to secure capacities in Germany : " Securing employment until 2029 is a success for the works council. It is crucial that the Neckarsulm plant next to Ingolstadt is one The federal government must support the transformation process in the automotive industry. However, care must be taken to ensure that it is not used to reduce capacities in Germany and relocate abroad. "
Audi has to cut 9,500 jobs across Germany
Update from November 26, 3:28 pm: Audi works council and management have apparently come to a result. But there is bad news: the number of jobs that could be cut in Germany is not as estimated at 4,000 to 5,000 jobs. It has risen. As reported by handelsblatt.com, 9,500 jobs could be cut according to information from corporate groups!
Audi: 2,000 new jobs are created
The whole thing should at least be socially acceptable. Operational layoffs are excluded. And what does that mean for the Audi plant in Neckarsulm? Apparently, the 50,000 employees in the main plants in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm should receive an employment guarantee until 2029.
The company is currently supposed to inform the employees. In addition, 2,000 new jobs are to be created in the areas of electromobility and digitization. Upon request from handelsblatt.de, the company did not want to comment on the information.
Audi in Neckarsulm: If negotiations fail, 1,500 jobs could be lost
Update from November 26, 12:13 p.m .: What about the future of the Audi plant in Neckarsulm ? Negotiations are currently underway between the Audi board of directors and the works council. An agreement must be reached by the end of the year at the latest. The Neckarsulm works council wants to fight for the future, but shows little willingness to compromise when it comes to cuts in wages, annual bonuses and profit sharing .
300,000 Audi vehicles roll off the assembly line at the Audi plant in Neckarsulm every year. Now there are only 225,000 left. Fewer cars also means fewer jobs available . It is then possible to cut 4,000 to 5,000 jobs in the German plants, 1,500 of them in Neckarsulm alone, reports swr.de. The numbers have not yet been officially confirmed . The works council hopes for an agreement, but can not rule out failure.
Audi: Three new board members for 2020
Update of November 21: Something is happening on the Audi board . In the coming year, three new members will take their place on the executive board. A woman will also join the Audi executive team . On March 1st, Dr. Arno Antlitz new Chief Financial Officer. Previously, he was responsible for the development and implementation of the future pact and the turnaround plans in the regions at VW.
On April 1st, Dirk Große-Loheide started his work as procurement director at Audi . He takes over from Dr. Bernd Martens. Große-Loheide has been working in the VW group for 28 years. Also on April 1, Dr. Sabine Maassen started her position on the Audi Board of Management as Personnel and Organization . She currently works as the Chief Human Resources Officer at thyssenkrupp. Previously she worked on the board of IG Metall .
New board members at Audi: What impact will the Neckarsulm site have?
How the new personnel on the Audi Board of Management will affect the Neckarsulm location will probably be shown in the coming year. Above all, the question remains unanswered with which concept the future of the Audi location in Neckarsulm is to be secured.
"Audi is repositioning itself for the future. Now it is important for the new CEO, Markus Duesmann and his future team, to make technological advances an unmistakable maxim at Audi. This must be the aspiration of the Audi management ," said Dr , Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Audi AG, on the new personnel.
Audi in Neckarsulm: This is the state of the art for electric cars
Update of November 20: As part of yesterday's works council event at the Audi location in Neckarsulm , it became clear that employees, representatives and also management basically see the future in the expansion of electromobility. But it was precisely on this point that there was a lot of uncertainty recently because there was no innovative way. Instead, commitments already made by the Board of Directors had been withdrawn . The works council has therefore summarized the current status of e-cars at Audi in Neckarsulm again.
"At the end of 2017, two high-volume e-models were approved for the Neckarsulm location. In the meantime, the company has reduced to one e-model," says a message following the information event. Accordingly, an electric car would have been produced in Neckarsulm from 2021 . However, the Audi Board of Management also questioned this at the beginning of 2019.
Audi Neckarsulm: platform strategy versus electromobility?
Instead, according to the works council, the board favors a so-called platform strategy . According to this, the Ingolstadt site would produce E-models in the future, whereas Neckarsulm would only produce combustion vehicles. "A combustion engine planned for Neckarulm, which is supposed to improve the currently poor capacity utilization, would not come until 2023 at the earliest. An improvement in the capacity utilization is not to be expected until then," explains the works council, but fears that this strategy will not secure the site in the long term either be given.
Audi plant manager Helmut Stettner, on the other hand, assumes that there will be "of course" long-term electrification at the Neckarsulm location . This plan and the importance of Neckarsulm for Audi was also emphasized in a discussion between the board of directors, plant, personnel and plant management with the mayors Harry Mergel (Heilbronn) and Steffen Hartwig (Neckarsulm).
Audi: Neckarsulm really location for fully electric Audi e-tron GT?
There it was in a press release back in October: "The brand is already investing in the site, which is the first in Germany, where the Audi e-tron GT will roll an all-electric car off the assembly line." In addition, Neckarsulm is already an innovation driver in the Volkswagen Group with the competence center for the further development of fuel cells as an alternative drive and lightweight construction.
The works council also explicitly called for this progressive thinking yesterday so as not to continue to lag behind the trend. The Stuttgarter Zeitung writes that this bitter experience had already been made with off-road vehicles. Neckarsulm has so far been left empty-handed, although customers' cars are at the top of their wish lists.
Works council is clearly criticizing the management board because of the plant in Neckarsulm
Update of November 19: At an event, the Audi works council informed the workforce today about their view of the future of the plant in Neckarsulm. The works council clearly criticized the management of Audi and made clear demands for a secure perspective for the employees in Neckarsulm.
According to a message from the Audi works council, around 5,000 employees took part in the information event at the Neckarsulm location. They have been "unsettled for months because of shift cancellations and open model decisions," said Audi Works Council Chairman Rolf Klotz.
Audi Neckarsulm: Workforce uncertain about uncertain future
At the beginning of 2019, the executive board of the car group had already questioned promised prospects for production in Neckarsulm. Since then there has been growing concern about a secure future for the 17,000 employees. It was actually planned that two e-models should be produced in Neckarsulm in the future. It is currently questionable whether this will happen. The target of 300,000 vehicles built per year is also undercut by more than a third for the third year in a row.
Audi works council with clear demands for Neckarsulm: "Need answers"
"We finally need answers about the location's perspective and stability in our company," said Klotz. The works council is fighting for an extension of the employment guarantee and robust agreements. There will be a downsizing, "if at all, only socially acceptable".
At the same time, Klotz criticized the future plans of the Audi Board of Management. The announcement of a possible reduction in plant capacities should be considered as completely detached from the current occupancy in Neckarsulm, because the plans of the Board of Management would only apply in a few years.
Audi Neckarsulm: Works Council is clearly criticizing the Executive Board
For this, however, it is still completely unclear what the overall car market would look like. "It is clear to us that these are purely austerity measures without strategic foresight," said Klotz. The Audi works council sees the only solution for the future in "immediate entry into electromobility", as the message says. "Instead of dusty concepts such as cuts in personnel and wages, we need future prospects for the local locations and their employees," said Roman Zitzelsberger, district manager of IG Metall Baden-Württemberg.
Neckarsulm: E-cars issue - factory manager has no understanding for "black painter"
A long-term perspective can only be created with electrification. Zitzelsberger therefore said: "If companies are already stealing responsibility at the beginning of the transformation, it is the job of the union and employees to stand up for just change." Audi plant manager Helmut Stettner, however, cannot understand that echo24.de has recently started speculating about electromobility: "Of course, we here at the site assume that electrification will take place in the long term. So I have no understanding of black painters, who want to talk small about our location. "
Audi wants to maintain the Neckarsulm location - despite declining production.
© AUDI AG
Neckarsulm: Audi plant in Neckarsulm - negotiations on the future are ongoing
Update from November 18: Neckarsulm - The situation at the Audi plant in Neckarsulm is still tense. Many employees fear for their jobs, do not know what the future will bring for them. It has been clear since November 12 that the night shift must end at the end of March, as echo24.de * reports. A drastic step. Because: Audi had actually planned to increase the night shift again in the spring, 500 temporary workers were recruited especially for this. The affected night shift is to be distributed in Neckarsulm to the two day shifts and other company areas. The promise: The employment guarantee until 2025 will continue to apply. However, while the Christmas holidays in Neckarsulm are being extended and production is at a standstill, some Audi employees have already received takeover offers from sister company Porsche for the plant in Zuffenhausen. The production of the electric Porsche Taycan apparently makes the best of it.
Bram Schot to become new Audi boss - electromobility should secure the future
While the Neckarsulm plant is worried about a happy ending, there is a lot of change on the management floor. Bram Schot has to vacate his position. Markus Duesmann, who was still a member of the Board of Management of BMW AG until July last year, will take over for him from April 1, 2020. It is now also clear: by 2029, up to 75 pure e-models and around 60 hybrid vehicles should be on the market. The next generation of the A4 is expected to be built in Neckarsulm. It is not until 2026/27 that the second generation of the Q4 E-Tron is to be built in Neckarsulm.
Audi faces huge problem: This idea is to save production locations
News from October 25, 2019: Save 15 billion euros by 2022 - that's the plan of the car manufacturer Audi. Because: The German plants are no longer busy, Audi sold 3.6 percent fewer cars in 2019 than in the previous year. That is why fewer cars are to be built in the Neckarsulm and Ingoldstadt plants. The decline in production at the Neckarsulm location is particularly noticeable, as echo24.de * reports.
If Audi had produced well over 200,000 cars a year between 2010 and 2016, only around 178,000 vehicles are expected to roll off the assembly line by the end of this year. The number of units that Audi produces in Neckarsulm has dropped to the level of the crisis year 2009. The number of cars produced in Neckarsulm already fell sharply in 2017 and 2018. However, the Audi plant in Neckarsulm is designed for a production of 300,000 cars per year, as Stimme.de explains.
Audi in Neckarsulm: electric cars for the future of the location
The plan to build two electric vehicles in Neckarsulm and thus cushion the decline in production was questioned again in the spring of this year. At a meeting of the Audi board and the mayors of Heilbronn and Neckarsulm in mid-October, there was a lot of discussion about how the Audi plant could be made future-proof. Audi announced this in a press release.
The Audi e-tron GT, a fully electric car, is to roll off the assembly line in Neckarsulm. And there is also great potential for the future in Neckarsulm in the competence center for the further development of the fuel cell. Added to this was the promise made by the Audi Board of Management: "The Audi Neckarsulm location will continue to be an essential part of the company in the future."
Audi relies on electric models - the Neckarsulm location should be secured
As the SWR further reports, Audi has precise ideas of how the employees in the Neckarsulm plant can be employed - but these plans are not yet ready for a decision. One possibility could be that Audi plans to launch around 30 electric models by 2025. The company plans to use this to generate 40 percent of its sales in the future.
* echo24.de and tz.de are part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
