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All rights reserved the online meeting of the Volkswagen Action Committee will take place at 7 p.m to discuss the announced attacks on plants and wages send a message via Whatsapp to +491633378340 or register using the form below Around 3,000 workers from German Volkswagen sites demonstrated in Hanover on Wednesday morning against the cutbacks recently announced by VW CEO Oliver Blume The IG Metall trade union and the works council had called for the protest in front of Herrenhausen Palace where negotiations with the management on a new contract and the announced mass layoffs began Wednesday morning The works council, IG Metall and VW management immediately set about coordinating behind the scenes how they should proceed in order to implement these savings at the expense of the workforce. They are all pulling in the same direction. This already shows that the wage negotiations between VW management, the works council and IG Metall, which have been brought forward by a month because of the cuts announced by Blume, are pursuing a different goal from that of the protesting workers and apprentices, who on Wednesday made up a large proportion of the 3,000 participants who had travelled to Hanover. While Cavallo and her entourage, and IG Metall are negotiating how best to implement the savings, many of the employees are not willing to make any further concessions. The mood among the workers is not the best right now, reports Benni. He took part in the demonstration because he wanted to fight for “keeping our jobs … and to continue to work for fair wages. And, of course, to be able to counteract the job cuts worldwide in solidarity.” Many VW workers were visibly angry about the audacity with which management unilaterally demanded cuts from them, instead of saving where there really is something to save. “VW made a profit of over 22 billion euros last year,” said Nazim, who works at the commercial vehicles plant in Hanover. Now they were acting as if VW were destitute. “But the money that is supposed to be saved will not benefit us, only the shareholders.” The billionaires wanted more money, said Nazim, and he was not alone in this opinion. “We always have to foot the bill, the bill for billions or millions that they [shareholders and managers] earn,” said Tino, who works at the VW plant in Zwickau. “I’ve been with the company for 33 years, but we’ve never had a situation like this before.” This statement was underlined by a letter from the company via the internal communication platform 360°. In it, the 130,000 employees are once again informed why they are facing the closure of their plants and the loss of their jobs: “Ten years ago—in 2013—the VW brand generated a margin of 2.9 percent, Stellantis 2.0 percent and Renault 1.3 percent.” While VW was currently at a margin of 4.1 percent, “Renault is now operating at a level of 6.9 percent, and Stellantis at 11.8 percent.” A new negotiation date has not yet been agreed. Gröger hopes that this will take place before the end of November. By then it may be too late for one or another of the plants. Investment decisions, which are mostly made for a period of five years, will already have been taken. VW’s financial director, Arno Antlitz, has already announced that investments will be cut by €10 billion, to €160 billion, in order to increase profit margins. All this shows that it is urgently necessary for the VW workforce to take action itself. IG Metall and its works council under Cavallo stand on the side of the company. They both share the view that savings must be made at the expense of the workforce. The next online meeting of the action committee, at which these questions will be discussed, will take place on Tuesday, October 1 at 7 p.m. We call on all VW employees and their supporters to attend. Register via Whatsapp at +491633378340 and fill out the form below! the two other big European volume carmakers were 8.1% and 10% respectively in the first half of the year.VW's squeezed margins - at a time when Chinese rivals have increased imports into Europe - have stoked fears of what could happen when they produce locally in future.After all carmakers - including the Chinese - are competing for a smaller piece of the pie: Europe's car market is 13% CFO Antlitz said.Citing the numerous challenges DZ Bank analyst Michael Punzet said he expected Volkswagen to cut its full-year group margin target again when it publishes third-quarter results.It already slashed the target to 6.5-7.0% in July due to provisions over the possible closure of a Brussels factory of luxury subsidiary Audi.Column chart showing new car sales of Volkswagen Group and all brands in EU EFTA and UK between 2018 and July 2024.FIGHT OVER COSTAs demand shrinks selling mass-market cars has become a fight over who makes them at the lowest cost."The thinking of finding solutions through growth is gone and companies need to readjust," Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois said.Antlitz said last week that the VW brand - which accounted for more than half of group production last year - had been spending more money than it earned for some time adding the company would not succeed if that trend continued.Volkswagen's automotive cash flow turned negative in the first half of 2024 to minus 100 million euros against a positive 2.5 billion in the same period last year.Fierce competition is not just a problem at home.Profits from China have nearly halved over the past decade to 2.6 billion euros in 2023 Expected to rise to around 3 billion euros by 2030 they will barely recover.Another big problem is energy and labour costs in Germany which are among the highest in Europe and have also become a major headache for the country's chemicals and steel sectors."New cheaper competition and high labour costs all align for a very difficult outlook especially for European mass brands," Citi analysts said this week.($1 = 0.8994 euros)Reporting by Victoria Waldersee Christina Amann and Christoph Steitz; Additional reporting by Gilles Guillaume; Editing by Josephine Mason and Mark Potter Autos correspondent in Germany, covering the industry's transition to electric vehicles. Previously reported on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the retail sector in South Asia, China and Europe, and wider general news. Formerly at YouGov and Economy, a charity working to produce accessible economics coverage. In addition to the Group brands Volkswagen Kassel also supplies other third-party customers as well as other components from the largest alloy foundry in Europe With around 15,000 employees from over 50 nations Volkswagen’s Kassel plant is the biggest employer in Northern Hesse and one of the most important economic factors in the region With its long-standing expertise when it comes to development the plant makes a significant contribution to the projects of the future at the Volkswagen Group The employees at Volkswagen’s biggest components plant in the world specialise in the production of transmissions which are installed in numerous car brands belonging to the Group around the world Aluminium transmission housing parts and large structural components for car bodies are some of the articles produced at the integrated biggest light metal foundry in Europe Another area just as important is the Group’s After Sales responsible for supplying Group vehicles with original parts around the world Used engines and transmissions are also processed in Kassel which is how the Volkswagen success story started back in 1958 and ecological objectives equally and at the same time The focus of all activities is the employees with their individual strengths and values As a member of the “Charter of Diversity” and an official partner of the regional initiative “Open to Diversity” Volkswagen Kassel also assumes responsibility for democratic The Volkswagen Newsroom is an open platform and offers comprehensive search options to all users If you would like to be kept informed about our press releases you can also subscribe to our media information newsletter The specified fuel consumption and emission data does not refer to a single vehicle and is not part of the offer but is only intended for comparison between different types of vehicles Additional equipment and accessories (additional components etc.) can alter relevant vehicle parameters such as weight CO2 emissions and driving performance values in addition to weather and traffic conditions and individual driving behavior Contractor was setting up the stationary robot when it grabbed and crushed him against a metal plate at the plant in Baunatal A robot has killed a contractor at one of Volkswagen’s production plants in Germany The man died on Monday at the plant in Baunatal The 22-year-old was part of a team that was setting up the stationary robot when it grabbed and crushed him against a metal plate He said initial conclusions indicate that human error was to blame which can be programmed to perform various tasks in the assembly process He said it normally operates within a confined area at the plant Another contractor was present when the incident occurred He declined to give any more details about the case German news agency DPA reported that prosecutors were considering whether to bring charges A 22-year-old German worker has died after an accident involving a robot in a Volkswagen production plant in the town of Baunatal According to Heiko Hillwig, a spokesperson for the company the contractor was in the process of installing the stationary robot "when it grabbed him and crushed him against a metal plate" The technician was rushed to a nearby hospital but later died due to complications stemming from the injuries inflicted by the robot While human workers in the plant are ordinarily separated from production robots by cages for their own safety the victim was inside the cage with the robot when the accident occurred A fellow team member outside the cage at the time was unharmed little more is known about the exact details of the incident which is being investigated by German authorities Volkswagen is attributing the death to human error maintaining that no technical malfunction occurred on the part of the robot which incurred no damage during the accident which usually operates within confined areas and performs a variety of programmable tasks to assemble various car parts does not ordinarily come into contact with human workers inside the plant and appears to have been accidentally activated by the workers while they were engaged in setting it up Prosecutors are looking into the accident to decide whether charges should be brought against anybody involved it's unlikely that any further statements will be issued by the company until the outcomes of the investigation are known Volkswagen announced it would use its cost-effective robot workers to replace some retiring human employees and unveiled a new generation of light-weight robots deemed safe enough to work alongside humans directly (not the kind of machine involved in this accident) The trend towards these more 'people-like' robots is occurring in all sorts of manufacturing and production industries as technological developments give rise to machines that are capable of performing increasingly sophisticated tasks with less emphasis on conveyor-belt-style repetition this incident highlights the ongoing dangers of people working in the same environments as robotic machines particularly as automation processes steadily take the place of jobs once performed by human workers Data released last year revealed industrial robots were responsible for at least 33 deaths in the US in the last 30 years As we head into a more robotic future in the workplace and outside of it here's hoping the safeguards keep pace with the purely technological achievements Daily Weather Report Powered By: FILE PHOTO: German Labour Minister Hubertus Heil attends a so-called Social Democratic Party (SPD) dialogue conference with the party leadership as part of the SPD members' vote on the coalition agreement between the SPD General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) Matthias Miersch speaks about the result of members' vote on the coalition agreement which they drafted together with the conservatives CDU/CSU BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) backed a coalition deal with the CDU/CSU conservatives on Wednesday in the final step to forming a government in Europe's largest economy and nominated their leader Lars Klingbeil as finance minister SPD support paves the way for election winner Friedrich Merz to become chancellor on May 6 after his conservatives topped federal elections in February but fell well short of a majority Both the SPD and conservatives rule out governing with the far-right Alternative for Germany which scored a historic second place Pressure to form a functioning government has taken on a new urgency at a time of a weak German economy rising unemployment and global turbulence sparked by U.S President Donald Trump's sweeping import tariffs SPD members have voted on the coalition treaty drawn up by leaders of both parties which ended on Tuesday just before midnight 84% of the members who took part were in favour of the deal adding that 56% of the around 360,000 members took part in the vote "In these very difficult times in global politics secure jobs and equal opportunities," party General Secretary Matthias Miersch said The party agreed to name its co-leader Klingbeil as the vice chancellor and finance minister Miersch added later at a press conference at the party base in Berlin The party will name six other cabinet posts it is entitled to by May 5 the popular defence minister in the outgoing government "I believe that we have now brought a process to an end that will culminate next week with the formation of a stable government in the Federal Republic of Germany," Miersch said Reviving Europe's largest economy is a top priority for Germany’s next government especially given fears that a trade war sparked by Trump’s tariff announcements could further hurt its export-driven economy Merz welcomed the SPD's vote in a social media post "The broad approval of our coalition agreement shows that the political center is capable of taking action and assuming responsibility This clears the way for a strong government that will finally solve our country's problems," he said on X The first major task for 47-year-old Klingbeil would be to present a draft budget for 2025 which had been delayed due to the snap election in February the party of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz having been its co-leader for the last four years Known for his charismatic personality and strong communication skills he is seen as a rising star within the SPD and a potential future chancellor Despite the SPD's historic low of just 16.4% of the vote political experts say it secured key gains in the coalition deal leveraging the conservatives' lack of alternative paths to the chancellery for the next four years The next coalition aims for example to invest heavily in Germany's infrastructure raise the minimum wage to 15 euros ($17.01) per hour keep pensions level at 48% of the current average wage and extend a cap on rents The SPD's concessions on tighter migration rules and cuts to unemployment benefits as well as its failure to secure tax hikes for the wealthy have drawn sharp criticism from the party's influential Jusos youth wing whose leaders had urged members to reject the deal (Additional reporting by Maria Martinez; Writing by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Sarah Marsh Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Stories you've missed since your last login: Recommended stories based on your interests: the EV infrastructure and utility arm of automotive OEM Volkswagen about its new second life energy storage and energy trading ventures The company recently deployed a 560kWh second life battery energy storage system (BESS) in Baunatal made up of batteries from its ‘e-up!’ range of EVs It is also planning to monetise its network of EVs and charging infrastructure in the energy market and recently launched its own electricity trading business to this end The second life BESS will essentially be a testing ground for the digital energy trading platform which in future will integrate Volkswagen/Elli’s fleet of EVs via vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and vehicle-to-home (V2H) technologies Elli provides charging infrastructure and retail energy products to B2C and B2B customers Asked what it would take for these technologies to scale up said: “From a technology perspective we are already there with V2G It’s proven that you can use EV batteries to earn money via FCR (frequency control reserve) or intraday trading The main issue right now is a regulatory one.” “The smart meter rollout is still relatively low in Germany and to scale up V2G you need a larger share of users actively using a smart meter In some other markets the penetration is higher and people are already taking advantage of flexibility products.” “We also need better energy products to be sold to the customer We need tariffs which both provide a relative amount of safety on what the bulk of your energy supply will cost while also allowing you to earn from the flexibility of your smart appliances like your heat pump and your EV battery.” Retail energy markets are generally not well-shaped to allow for the ‘prosumer’ model – where consumers generate as well as consume energy – which V2G/V2H entails partially as a legacy of their past domination by larger power plants Volkswagen and Elli also plan to deploy more second life BESS but Muller said the scale it could achieve there is not yet clear as the technology is still relatively new but that being a company involved in the entire lifecycle of a battery positions Volkswagen well within the space “There still isn’t a broad insight into the health of the batteries that are going to come back from the EV market We will see them in the coming years and then know what we can do with them,” Müller added The launch of the BESS and trading business comes nearly a year after Volkswagen and Elli announced a collaboration with Elia Group which owns one of Germany’s four large transmission system operators (TSOs) looking into the potential of V2G technology Volkswagen has also used BESS to increase the capacity and optimisation of its charging parks, including one in Saxony commisioned last year with a 570kWh system made up of pre-production models of its ID.3 and ID.4 compact EV Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume has confirmed that the Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) will be manufactured at the Kassel-Baunatal component plant in central Germany The plant will produce components for up to one million vehicles per year The plant in Kassel-Baunatal, which is managed by Volkswagen Group Components, already plays an important role in the supply chain for electric vehicles based on the MEB. For example, the APP310 electric motors and the newer APP550 are assembled there. Since 2023 VW has also been developing the power electronics for future electric cars in Kassel As Blume stated to the local paper HNA (Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine) on the fringes of the group’s annual press conference in Wolfsburg the Kassel plant will play a major role for SSP both as a development and production site – for the electric motors as the power electronics are sometimes called in the VW group we’re talking about a million units a year All new electric models from VW will be built on this a great future lies ahead for Kassel.” The VW Group’s Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) is an electric platform that is currently under development it is intended to cover a wide range of models to reduce costs The MEB is currently used in the compact segment with the VW ID.3 while the upcoming small electric cars based on the VW ID.2 will use a front-wheel-drive architecture derived from the MEB called ‘MEB Small.’ It is not yet known whether these models will also be converted to the SSP in the next generation The SSP is expected to debut in 2028 – at least that’s what VW brand CEO Thomas Schäfer had publicly stated last summer The new platform was originally announced for 2026 there have also been reports of an even longer delay hna.de (in German) I agree with the Privacy policy electrive has been following the development of electric mobility with journalistic passion and expertise since 2013 we offer comprehensive coverage of the highest quality — as a central platform for the rapid development of this technology 2015 8:13 AMRobot kills worker at Volkswagen plantSave this storySaveSave this storySaveShutterstockA contractor at a Volkswagen production plant in Germany has been killed by a robot who grabbed him and crushed him against a metal plate The 22-year-old man was a member of a team that was tasked with setting up the stationary robot when it grabbed him An investigation is currently underway, which will inform the decision of prosecutors as to whether they will pursue charges against the company. The plant where the tragedy occurred was based in Baunatal, a town about 62 miles north of Frankfurt. This article was originally published by WIRED UK It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our lives—from culture to business The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking Lisa Brennauer sprinted to her second German national title in two days, adding the road title to the time trial title she won a day earlier. She outsprinted her Specialized-Lululemon teammate Trixi Worrack, who took second. Third place went to Martina Zwick (Bigla). The women rode 7 laps of the 17.2 km circuit course in Baunatal, for a total of 120,4 km. An early break got away and had a lead of up to two minutes. On the fourth lap, Romy Kasper (Boels – Dolmans) moved up to join them, and soon she and Christina Koep (Koga Ladies) were alone in the lead. They took nearly a minute lead into the sixth lap, ahead of a 40-woman strong field containing all the favourites. Koep fell back, and soon the break was entirely over. A group of 23 went into the final lap, with newly crowned time trial champion Brennauer jumping into the lead. She had a gap of about 40 seconds going into the final 10 km. Trixi Worrack (Specialized-LuluLemon) and Claudia Lichtenberg (team) gave chase. Worrack moved up to her trade team teammate, but Brennauer outsprinted her to take the victory and her second national title in two days. The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox! To use this site, please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page. 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Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting, readable fomat. © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun The spokesman said that it is initially thought that human error was to blame - not a problem with the robot The robot normally operates within a confined area of the plant VW declined to give any more details about the case German media reports that prosecutors are considering whether to bring charges Financial Times reporter Sarah O'Connor one of the first journalists to put the tragic but unusual story on Twitter quickly realised the implications of breaking such news with a name similar to the Terminator movie franchise heroine Sarah Connor She was bombarded with replies linking the accident to Skynet and potentially the Rise of the Machines - as detailed in the blockbuster movies Ms O'Connor was quick to remind internet wags of the serious nature of the story A spokesman for Volkswagen said: "Earlier this week a contractor was injured while installing some machinery in the Kassel factory "He died later in hospital from his injuries and our thoughts are with his family "We are of course carrying out a thorough investigation into the incident and cannot comment further at this time." Von: Sven Kühling dann zeigte er den Arbeitern im neu geschaffenen VW-Werk Das konnte Rudolf Leiding als gelernter Kfz-Mechaniker problemlos Am Donnerstag wäre Leiding 100 Jahre alt geworden.","url":"https://www.hna.de/lokales/kreis-kassel/baunatal-ort312516/baunatal-erster-werkleiter-rudolf-leiding-waere-donnerstag-jahre-geworden-3830518.html"};c&&a.navigator.canShare(d)&&(c.style.display="",c.addEventListener("click",b=>{b.preventDefault(),a.setTimeout(function(){a.navigator.share(d)},0)}))}})(window,document); Am Donnerstag wäre Leiding 100 Jahre alt geworden Genauso tauchte der Werkleiter einfach mal an der Montagebank zu einer Fachsimpelei unter Kollegen auf oder lud zu Getränk und Würstchen nach der Arbeit in die Gaststätte im Bahnhof Altenbauna ein Der erste Chef des 1958 geschaffenen VW-Standorts hatte viele Facetten - die reichten vom hemdsärmligen Macher in der Aufbereitung für Käfer-Motoren bis zum unnachgiebigen Konzernstrategen Der spätere Vorstandsvorsitzende von Volkswagen gilt bis heute als Geburtshelfer der Erfolgsmodelle Golf Veränderung - weg vom luftgekühlten Heckmotor des Käfers Nach einem Maschinenbaustudium hatte Leiding 1945 als Betriebsingenieur bei VW in Wolfsburg begonnen Als Leiter der dortigen Aggregateaufbereitung empfahl sich der aus der Altmark stammende Motorenspezialist für die Leitung des Werkes in Nordhessen Quasi über Nacht entstanden dort 7000 Arbeitsplätze 5 und 6 - ehemals Produktionsstätten der Henschel-Flugmotorenwerke - wurden von Kriegsschäden befreit und für das boomende Autogeschäft auf Vordermann gebracht An vielen Stellen wurde gebaut auf dem eine Million Quadratmeter großen Gelände in dem ein Teil der Produktionshallen stand 1965 verabschiedete sich Rudolf Leiding nach der Pionierarbeit vorübergehend aus Baunatal Bis 1968 war er Geschäftsführer der Auto Union (später Audi) in Ingolstadt Von 1968 bis 1971 leitete er Volkswagen in Brasilien Schließlich wurde er an die Spitze des Volkswagenkonzerns berufen Von 1971 bis 1975 war Leiding Vorstandsvorsitzender von VW als er schon längst nach Baunatal als Ruheständler zurückgekehrt war Das lässt die auch undiplomatische Seite des ehemaligen Werkleiters erkennen Ehefrau Helga wohnt übrigens bis heute am Fuße des Baunsbergs Sie war seine erste Sekretärin im neuen Werk Dieser Inhalt"+t(a)+"kann aufgrund Ihrer Datenschutz-Einstellungen nicht geladen werden