Daimler example threatens billion-euro disaster for VW

Volkswagen's competitors see its decision to build a battery cell factory for serial production in Germany as a concession to its workers’ council, rather than an economically promising endeavour, writes Philipp Vetter for Die Welt. “VW is forced by its workers’ council to make another ruinous investment,” a board member of another carmaker told the newspaper. Most carmakers in Germany already have supply contracts with Asian battery cell manufacturers with prices and cruising ranges guaranteed until 2022, the source said. Last year, Daimler halted a battery cell production project in Germany, writing off more than 100 million euros in investment, Vetter writes. He cites high energy costs as one of the main reasons manufacturers refrain from producing batterys in Germany.

See the article in German here.

Read more on the restructuring of Germany’s automotive industry in the CLEW dossier The Energiewende and German carmakers.