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VW Plans New Partsmaking Business Unit
Volkswagen AG says it intends to combine its components operations, including engine and transmission assembly, into a new group.
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Volkswagen AG says it intends to combine its components operations, including engine and transmission assembly, into a new group.
The move would involve existing activities at 56 plants worldwide that employ a combined 80,000 people, Reuters reports. The news service notes that VW first outlined the plan, which was approved by its executive board earlier this year, in 2016.
VW says that integrating its components operations will improve efficiency, generate better use of in-house expertise and “drive forward the transition to electric cars” throughout the company. Analysts says the new structure could free up funds to bankroll the cost of electrification and set up the parts unit to eventually be spun off.
The company insists the move won’t reduce capacity, although observers note that cutbacks appear inevitable as more of VW’s product lineup shuns piston engines and transmissions for simpler electric motors and gearboxes.
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