The number of Audi fuel vehicles will be cut in half.
Editor’s note: This article is from “Future Car Daily” (WeChat public ID: auto-time), author: Terence Lee Nan.
Author | Li Yinan
Editing | Li Huanhuan
Audi is in the midst of a period of electrification transformation.
Reuters recently quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Audi is considering layoffs of thousands of people to cut the high cost of transition to electrification. At present, due to the relatively strong labor representative, the relevant negotiations are temporarily deadlocked.
German “Der Spiegel” wrote on November 22, local time, that Audi is negotiating with the labor council and seeking to lay off 4,000-5,000 jobs.
According to Reuters, Audi currently has 61,000 employees in Germany. As of now, neither Audi nor the relevant labor and management committees have responded to this matter.
In fact, as early as March of this year, Audi announced that it will reduce its cost by $17 billion in the future and abolish 10% of its management positions to increase investment in electrification. At that time, Audi Chief Financial Officer Alexander had said that the future vacancies in Audi will not be filled.
Behind the massive layoffs is Audi’s high investment in electrification. On November 18, Audi said at its electrification strategy conference that it plans to invest more than $15 billion in electrification by 2023 to promote the development of electric vehicles, digital and autonomous driving technologies.
Audi said that in Audi’s new brand strategy, electric vehicles are one of the core cornerstones, and Audi will spend 50% of its marketing budget on electric mobility in the future.
In terms of products, Audi’s fuel vehicle product line has also been reduced. Audi said that future specific gearboxes, engine combinations and certain models of cars will be cut down, and Audi’s product portfolio will be reduced by 27%. As the product line is further adjusted, the number of final fuel models will be reduced to half.
At present, Audi’s financial situation is in a state of recovery. On November 1st, Audi released its third-quarter earnings report for 2019. Audi’s revenue for the first three quarters of this year was 41.3 billion euros (about 325.01 billion yuan), down 6.8% year-on-year; operating profit was 3.239 billion euros. RMB 25.45 billion), an increase of 12.8%.
Audi said that the decline in revenue was mainly affected by financial indicators and the decline in global sales, the implementation of global light vehicle test procedures, the replacement of new models and the economic downturn. In addition, the fines caused by the “drainage gate” scandal also increased the burden on Audi.
In response to financial dilemmaAudi has developed a transformation plan and implemented a number of measures. In the first three quarters of this year, it has increased its operating results by 1.3 billion euros.
