Volkswagen documents reveal German production costs are four times higher than in China

Internal documents from Volkswagen Group reveal a significant cost disparity between its German and Chinese manufacturing operations. According to the files, the cost to produce a single vehicle at the Emden plant in Germany is 4,850 euros, which is more than four times the 1,078 euros required at the Tianjin plant in China.

Discrepancies in labor costs and productivity further highlight this gap. The Emden plant reports an hourly wage of 74 euros with 1,282 effective working hours per year, whereas the Tianjin plant operates with an hourly wage of 12 euros and 2,065 effective working hours per year.

In response to these economic realities, Volkswagen has approved a plan to cut a total of 100,000 jobs, representing approximately 15% of its global workforce. Of the 47,000 recently announced positions, 26,000 are located in Germany, 9,300 in other EU countries, 5,700 in North America, 1,600 in China, and 1,500 in South America. The company stated that systematic workforce adjustments are essential for economic survival.