East German auto industry: hope and challenges for 2025

East German auto industry: hope and challenges for 2025

Zwickau, Deutschland - The location of the automotive industry in East Germany remains tense. According to a current analysis by the Chemnitz Automotive Institutes, under the direction of Professor Werner Olle, only slight growth can be expected for 2025, while a real trend reversal is still missing. While brands such as BMW and Porsche in Leipzig and Opel in Eisenach achieve better utilization through new products, VW in Zwickau and Tesla in Brandenburg is facing stagnating production figures. It is particularly worrying that VW plans to reduce the capacities drastically in that vehicle production in the glass manufactory in Dresden will be discontinued at the end of 2025 and Zwickau produces only Audi models on a production line from 2027, such as Blick.de reported .

incisions and compromises at Volkswagen

The negotiations between VW and IG Metall have produced a compromise, but it will have a major impact on the jobs in Saxony. Instead of closing the factory, a total of 35,000 jobs are reduced nationwide, although it is still unclear how many jobs will fall by the wayside in Saxony. Olle describes the situation as a massive cut for the VW locations in Zwickau and Dresden, where the production structure will be fundamentally changed by 2025. In Zwickau, the works lose the production of ID models and focus on Audi production, while the glass manufactory in Dresden is due for decommissioning. The situation is particularly disappointing for the employees and shows that the pioneer of electromobility, VW, does not comply with all promises, according to Olle, as Süddeutsche.de reports .

The political reactions to the agreement also show resentment. The CDA state chairman Alexander Krauss criticized the compromise as inadequate and called for a fairer distribution of the savings on the various works in Germany. The chairwoman of the BSW parliamentary group, Sabine Zimmermann, also commented on the short-term solutions and warned a quick future concept for the glass manufacturer, although it remains unclear whether the planned battery recycling system actually brings the necessary job protection.