“If VW is busy, Zwickau is sick”

The fourth-largest city in Saxony has been a major benchmark for electric car production since 2020. Now people are worried about the future of the upcoming Volkswagen factory – and the fried joint life of people for the city.

Das Hotel “Merkur” has fallen out of time. Anklänge von Jugendstil im Inneren, dunkle Holztäfelung. Since 1912, the family of Jörg Huhndorf has lived in the Hauptbahnhof of the Saxon City of Zwickau. “I am happy with the times and corona,” says the Inhaber. If you are looking for Mann in your retirement, make sure you have the retirement age. “If VW is busy, Zwickau is sick”. An abgegriffener Satz? Because man has a bitter confusion here. And Thomas Knabel, the first Bevollmächtigte of IG Metall Zwickau, a Mann sachlicher Worte, die Schaumschläger, kündigt and: “We were entschieden Widerstand leisten.”

VW-Krise: Zwickauer Werk spürt Probleme massiv

The support of the Volkswagen supporters, the work and the placement of the wiring are no longer in Tabu, but in the heart of Zwickau. When the last VW labor war in 2020 in the history of the company took place, no electric cars have yet been produced. That Automobile too, there is sold in those years that 70 percent eingebrochen ist. The product is also a large part of the Chinese competitor-leader.

Im Zwickauer Werk is about the Krise of the annual massif. Wurden 2021 nor 360,000 Fahrzeuge gebaut, es 2023 nur 250,000. These years could not happen again. Of the three flashes around the hour in the Halls since weniger as weibeen. Die Zahl von ehemals knapp 11,000 Beschäftigten schrumpfte auf noch 9400.

Would you like to visit the Schluss signal in Zwickau? Nobody in the city will pronounce. I am a Donnerstagnachmittag war involvement at Volkswagen. Five working VW brand leaders Thomas Schäfer with puffs and bull’s-eyes. “The dumplings have a full snail’s nest”: So bring a mechanic nibble on the spot. The woolen description is no longer applicable to the Fehler, the VW management has its own power hat.

VW-Krise: “That’s all about the legacy of the AfD”

In the Zwickau Rathaus, René Hahn has taken charge of the political succession of the VW Crisis. “That is all about the inheritance of the AfD bei”, but the Fraktionsgeschäftsführer of the Left in the City Parliament. On June 9, 2024, the Kommunalwahl will no longer be between Linken and Debakel. The parts of the Federal Government were cut to Splitter format in Zwickau. SPD 6.92 Prozent, Grüne 3.19 Prozent, FDP 3.08 Prozent. Den Linken blieben von ehemals elf Prozent noch 4.43. The AfD triumphed with 32.28 percent, the CDU collected less than 20.78. The new green Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) has 12.99 Prozent.

In the fight against the democratic parties in the city parliament in non-Bündnis: the faction of the ‘progressive democrats’, which, together with the rest of the SPD, Linken, Grünen and FDP, is pursuing a new city policy. “That is a small observation of the terrible situation,” said the Linke. Among the people, the AfD wählten, since, so schätzt Hahn, also fell VW-Beschäftigte. “Die Krise von VW schürt Angst um den Arbeitsplatz.”

What’s more: The AfD is committed to its political propaganda “continue on the combustion engine car”. If you make a profit, then the “combustor is still the German’s dearest child”. This analysis is the best of the industrial sociologist Klaus Dörre. “The VW crisis is the fallout for the AfD”, founded by the scientist of the University of Jena. There is a deep insight into the years when the political struggle in the car industry began, which is why the team has had many conversations with the VW officials. His assessment: Among the VW workers in Zwickau, it is a “large part of electric mobility”.

Die Krise bei Volkswagen führt Dörre “in hohem Maße auf Fehler des VW-Managements” zurück. VW’s Elektroautos see their lives, “their Reichweite is at work and the Ladekapazitäten in Deutschland ebenfalls.” Hinzu komme de anhaltende Politik von CDU/CSU und FDP in Bundesbene gegen een Verbrenner-Aus.

Viele Arbeitsplätze in the region belongs to Volkswagen ab

Could VW Management end the consequences of the Zwickau work? Gewerkschafter Knabel rechnet for, dass in der Region rund um Zwickau ainschließlich der Zuliefererindustrie rund 60.000 Arbeitsplätze von VW abhingen. Auch Hotelier Huhndorf said: “We have little other industry!” About 3000 people have visited VW in the production development program 2020. More like a Drittel davon the mittlerweile wieder must have had.

It also fell on the game in Zwickau – and in a city, it would take a long time. Before the turn of 1989, 120,000 people lived in Zwickau. We have power in the 90s on the road in the West – and can no longer go back. Leerstand is one of the best in the city to see: Leere Gebäude, unfinished buildings, after which leere Häuser abgerisissen worden were.

For the people in Zwickau a Symbol: The thought-provoking market place in the city since 1841, a hospital. De Halle can learn years later. In 2025, an investor will be able to make an investment that no company can deliver anymore.

The Tradition Zwickaus im Automobilbau reicht weit zurück. It started in 1904, when the industry August Horch started the first car factory. In the GDR production of the VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke in Trabant, in April 1991, the production of a man ended. On 12 December 1990, VW founded the Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH, and on May 1990 the first VW Polo was repaired in Zwickau.

„We have to be completely new, standortschließungen durchzusetzen“

Considering the Schließung deutscher VW-Werke hat de Gewerkschaft IG Metall erbitterten Widerstand angekündigt. „We have to become completely new, continue to make progress through the future“, according to the advice of Soziologist Klaus Dörre. Left politician Hahn in the Zwickauer Rathaus says: “VW cannot lead, the work Zwickau will shine.” In the early 1960s, e-mobility became a reality in the automotive industry. It is worth letting the VW management know that “the vehicles of the people were better accepted.” There is a “besseres Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis”, with others Worten: The E-Autos must ultimately be considered.

Wissenschaftler Dörre weist darauf hind, die sich dass die Konkurrenz uit de Volksrepublik China mit de Preiswerteren van Fahrzeugen by VW-management under de Druck-stehe. For the good times in our home “live at the time”. If the Konzernführung is no longer a race business, “then the E-Car will be the Chinese business.” The öcological transformation of the car industry is also reflected in the social sciences: “It is still a path to E-Mobility.”

The affairs of the VW conflicts made the Linken police officer Hahn keep an eye on the AfD’s interests for the city and the opportunity, in Zwickau, but also not to live. On August 31, I attended four days of Christopher Street Day, under the motto “Für Respekt und Vielfalt”, and 800 people came together. 500 police officers had to detain the Zug and 400 police demonstrators of the rights were shot, so Hahn. Seine Einschätzung: “It is a new cultural camp and culture.” Hotelier Jörg Huhndorf will still be open at the end of the day: “I will be happy again.”