Volkswagen Is Reportedly Offering Some Employees Up To $200,000 To Quit

Volkswagen is a massive industrial powerhouse with more employees than any automaker that isn’t BYD. It’s also watching its sales decline in most markets. Something has to give, and it has to give fast, but Volkswagen is one of the companies that has the least flexibility when it comes to cutting its workforce.

The Morning Dump has marked the decline of Volkswagen almost since TMD’s inception, with a pace that’s almost felt like a horror movie; seemingly endless moments of misleading hope immediately followed by cascading disasters. While the automaker is in a bad way, its challenges aren’t entirely unique, as Mercedes-Benz is making similar calculations.

Stellantis is another automaker facing headwinds, including the fact that seemingly everything is too expensive, though it’s one that I think has a lot of potential upside. Some new changes to the company’s management structure feel like a positive step. As are Honda’s latest moves, which would see the company expanding a lot in the United States in the coming years.

The Only Job Mobility These Days Is In The Out Direction

I hope the guy we always use for these stories is doing well. I hope he’s happy. I hope, if he’s looking to retire, he can take advantage of the latest offering from Volkswagen. The company desperately needs to shed workers and is reportedly discovering that, well, it ain’t so easy to get a bunch of people to quit.

As Manager Magazin reports (translated), the company is targeting some workers with big offers to go find something else to do:

In its presentation, VW emphasizes the principle of mutual consent: both employees and the company must agree to a termination agreement in each individual case. Insiders explain that the company is thus refining its existing offers. The expected acceptance rates, for example for partial retirement, have not yet been reached.

[…]

Job classification and length of service are also crucial for determining the amount of potential severance pay. For more than 20 years of service at VW in pay grade 11/12, a maximum severance payment of up to €209,000 is possible. Those classified in pay grade 7/8 with five to ten years of service at VW can receive €71,200, while those in pay grade 3/4 with 15 to 20 years of service can receive €126,100.

This is generally how these programs work. The more time you put in with a company, the more money you get if you’re willing to depart early. A maximum $230,000 payday is not bad, though it probably doesn’t apply to that many people. One way to get closer to that amount if you haven’t been there quite as long, is to accept the offer quickly, as MM discovered:

Those who act particularly quickly will receive a special bonus of €55,000. The prerequisite for this bonus: they must have worked at VW for at least five years, express their interest in leaving between November 16th and December 4th, and subsequently return the signed termination agreement – ​​if the company provides one – within 14 days.

That’s another $60k just for moving fast.

How did Volkswagen get here? It started with the company’s hubris, which resulted in Dieselgate. The company then pivoted to electric cars and software. The EV rollout has been uneven at best, and the software investment didn’t pan out as planned. These missteps were survivable because VW’s various brands sold so well in China and North America. That is no longer the world we live in. It’s hard to blame the cost of tariffs on Volkswagen, though VW did have a hand in its own fall in China.

Having been cobbled together after WWII, the structure of Volkswagen makes laying off employees extremely hard. The company’s supervisory board includes both members of its union and, importantly, a representative of the German State of Lower Saxony. As an investor with supercharged voting rights, Lower Saxony has a vested interest in the company doing well while also balancing a huge political requirement to keep people employed.

This issue is so difficult for VW that it nearly attempted the nuclear option, which was to call for a vote to ignore the board to allow the CEO to layoff as many people as Volkswagen could. It was averted at the last moment, thanks in no small part to support from the government. This means that VW has to get creative in order to get the people it can spare to leave.

Mercedes Stops Investing In Germany

For many of the reasons above, Mercedes has also been suffering. After all the hype of expansion related to electric cars, Reuters is reporting that the company is ceasing all investment in German production with an eye towards cutting back:

In a sign of how quickly ​the crisis is spreading throughout the supply chain, Schaeffler said last week it would slash 3,460 ⁠jobs and close five sites in Europe, four of them in Germany, citing weak demand for combustion-engine autos.

Mercedes ​decided to suspend investments because it cannot agree with its works council and union representatives on labour cost reductions, ​according to an interview with executive board members shared on the company’s intranet.

Mercedes’ production chief Michael Schiebe said management had “jointly decided to halt all further investments in our German locations.”

Some of this is probably Mercedes working its union a bit to get concessions towards the inevitable reduction in jobs.

Tim Kuniskis Is Running All Sales In North America, Bob Broderdorf Is Back

For reasons that were never fully explained, the mostly French leadership of Stellantis decided to purge a lot of the engineers and executives who actually understood the American brands, including Tim Kuniskis. His departure even prompted some conspiracy theories that seem almost proven by his triumphant return to the company.

Now, according to Stellantis, Kuniskis is getting an extended role:

Stellantis announces Tim Kuniskis has been named U.S. chief commercial officer, effective immediately, adding U.S. retail and fleet sales and the dealer network to his current leadership of the American brands and SRT division, marketing and retail strategy. He reports to Pablo Di Si, Stellantis North America chief operating officer.

“By bringing brands, marketing, dealer network and sales strategy together, we’re creating an organization with a clear line of decision-making,” said Di Si. “Tim knows these brands, the customers and the company deeply. With this appointment, Tim’s passion and creativity will lead a streamlined commercial organization to help us realize the aggressive targets set in FaSTLAne 2030.”

That’s not all. Bob Broderdorf has returned from a medical leave to take the position of Dodge CEO, and Matt McAlear will take over as head of Chrysler.

“First things first. Bob’s back after his recent health issue and that’s the best news I’ve had all year,” said Kuniskis. “A whole lot of people had his back, and he fought like hell. Now he’s coming home to Dodge, and he’s the real deal. And with Chrysler about to go from one product to a real lineup, we need Matt fully focused. You don’t do that part-time.”

Hell yeah.

Honda Wants To Hit 1.6 Million US Sales With CR-V And Element

Honda is bringing back the Element, and the CR-V is going full-on hybrid. Good things are happening at Honda, and the company sees nothing but sunshine in its future.

Per Automotive News:

Honda, aided by a $3 billion assembly plant planned for central Ohio, is striving to boost U.S. sales 17 percent within five years.

Near-term growth remains limited by production capacity, but the 240,000-vehicle Ohio plant opening in 2029 is expected to power the ramp-up, Honda executives told dealers at a Nov. 11 meeting in Las Vegas.

The automaker is targeting U.S. volume of 1.6 million by early next decade, versus about 1.37 million this year, according to a retailer who attended the meeting.

So long as the suicide doors come back on the Element, we’re good to go.

What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD

This week of late show performances was too hard because there are just too many good ones. Here’s Kendrick Lamar doing a bit of a medley of songs from ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’ to round out the week.

The Big Question

How much money would you need to quit your job? Obviously, I have the best job, so it’s infinity dollars.

Top photo: VW