While the domestic epidemic is now under control, major car companies are gradually resuming work, and the overall car market is starting to develop in a favorable trend. But as the epidemic spreads internationally, the global auto market is in crisis. Previously, according to foreign media incomplete statistics, the major European automakers have announced that the production and production will be discontinued vehicle factory has more than 70. And by the epidemic affected by the biggest than the Renault Group and PSA Group, because the two auto group main car manufacturing plant are set in the European region, and its main business is also in Europe.
And now even the Volkswagen brand, which maintains a leading position in global sales, has been somewhat unable to carry the load. A few days ago, Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess said in an interview with German media that if the epidemic is not effectively controlled, it may have to lay off employees because it has no sales or revenue in markets outside China and still has to bear high fixed costs of about 2 billion euros (about 15.8 billion yuan) a week.
Volkswagen is now reported to have closed almost all of its plants in Europe and the Americas, while its plants in China have now resumed production. Dees also said that car sales in markets other than China have effectively come to a standstill, while demand in China, VW's largest single market, has recovered to about 50 percent of pre-outbreak crisis levels.
And even then, VW is still under enormous financial pressure. According to the Financial Times, VW's chief financial officer, Frank?Witter, has called on the European Central Bank to speed up its purchases of short-term bonds to stabilize the market. But Witter also suggested that VW did not see the need to resort to government aid to tide over the outbreak crisis.
And the Chinese market, as the VW Group's largest single market in the world, not only provided the strongest support for VW during the epidemic, but also contributed nearly 40 percent of VW's sales and substantial profits last year.
It is reported that Volkswagen's overall sales in China reached 4,233,600 units last year, a slight increase of 0.6 percent year-on-year, accounting for 38.6 percent of VW's global sales. And Volkswagen Group's operating profit from joint ventures in 2019 was 4.4 billion euros, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the group's total profit.
But although the Chinese market can be considered a top priority for Volkswagen, VW has a different attitude toward the Chinese market. For example, many Volkswagen models into the Chinese market after the existence of the phenomenon of reduction, in last year's research test Passat is a serious bending of the A-pillar, the final score at the bottom. Have to let people suspect that its design or related configuration on the reduction of processing.
Of course, Volkswagen treats Chinese employees "differently". Previously, Volkswagen released a public e-mail to employees will be issued in 2019 performance bonuses, the e-mail shows that Volkswagen employees will receive up to 4,950 euros (about 39,000 yuan) in bonuses.
But the Volkswagen employees who get bonuses, as stated in the email, are only the direct employees of Volkswagen, which has about 100,000 employees worldwide. But it does not include the domestic joint ventures "FAW-Volkswagen", "SAIC-Volkswagen", "JAC-Volkswagen" and other enterprises employees. In the absence of bonuses, SAIC-Volkswagen has also been exposed to layoffs and pay cuts. Employees' overtime pay will be canceled, performance will be discounted, and the number of double payouts will be reduced.
Written in the end
Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess of these remarks in a few days ago also hit the hot search, from the netizens are most concerned about the problem, is still the public can not put the quality of good, no longer have "double standard". And for Volkswagen, after this crisis, whether it can be adjusted to pay more attention to Chinese consumers?
(This article was originally produced by Wenwu Lane New Media Studio, please indicate the source: Wenwu Lane, the author of this article: and wind)
This article comes from the authors of the automotive home car family number, does not represent the views of the automotive home position.