Gia Automobile News According to Reuters, a memorandum from the Volkswagen Group Labor Committee shows that the company’s global labor expenses as a proportion of revenue has dropped from 18.
2% in 2020 to 15.
4% in 2023, but this ratio is still higher than that of the BMW Group, Mercedes-Benz Group and Stellantis Group (9.
5% to 11%).
Among them, Volkswagen Group’s labor expenses in Germany are estimated to be between “15.
8% and 17.
5%” of revenue.
However, the company said it has never released this data separately.
Volkswagen Group German employees account for 45% of its global total employees.
Data from the German Automotive Industry Association VDA shows that Germany has the highest labor costs in the global passenger car industry.
In 2023, the industry’s average hourly wage in Germany will be 62 euros (about 66 US dollars), an increase from 10 years ago.
About one third.
Among them, Volkswagen Group’s labor costs in Germany are particularly high because employees in sales, management and technology development positions often demand higher wages.
In contrast, VDA data shows that in France, Italy and Spain, the hourly wages of workers in the automobile industry are 47 euros, 33 euros and 29 euros respectively.
Stellantis Group and Renault Group have built most of their European factories in these areas.
In recent years, Volkswagen Group has announced plans to lay off tens of thousands of employees in Germany, including an agreement reached by its former CEO Herbert Diess and the union that its Volkswagen brand plans to lay off 23,000 employees by 2025.
But due to the transition to electric and software-driven vehicles and stricter regulation, Volkswagen Group has also hired many employees in areas such as software and management.
A person familiar with the matter said that the number of white-collar employees in the company is close to that of blue-collar workers.
An internal document seen by Reuters showed that between June 2019 and September 2024, although the number of Volkswagen Group factory workers decreased by more than 8,000, the number of administrative personnel increased by about 4,000.
Volkswagen Group declined to comment.
Photo source: Volkswagen, however, union representatives said labor costs only a small part of the Volkswagen Group’s cost structure, forcing the company’s management to make cost cuts in other areas to boost its weak profits.
, In an internal notice sent to employees by Volkswagen Group, the company’s labor committee pointed out that in the first nine months of this year, profits of its Porsche, Audi and Volkswagen Financial Services divisions fell sharply, which cost Volkswagen Group 5.
5 billion euros.
Last month, Thomas Schaefer, head of Volkswagen’s brand, also said that the company’s production efficiency at its German factory was not enough.
He pointed out that Germany’s energy, materials and labor costs are all rising.
“Currently, our factory costs are 25% to 50% higher than planned.
This means that the cost of a single German factory is twice that of competitors.
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