Coronavirus: VW Group Loses $2.2 Billion Weekly Because Of Pandemic

VW Group is losing a total of $2.2 billion weekly because of the coronavirus pandemic. This was made known by VW Group CEO Herbert Diess in an interview with a German TV. The VW Boss confessed that his company might have to cut jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are not making sales or revenues outside of China,” said Diess, adding that VW still needs to cover fixed costs of “around 2 billion euros a week.” The German company, which employs 671,000 people worldwide was looking for ways to resume production elsewhere that wouldn’t endanger its staff.

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“We need to rethink production. The discipline which we had in China we do not yet have at our German locations,” he said. “Only if we, like China, Korea or other Asian states, get the problem under control then we have a chance to come through the crisis without job losses. It requires a very sharp intervention,” Diess said.

Volkswagen, the world’s biggest automaker by vehicle sales, has 124 factories around the world. 72 are in Europe, with 28 in Germany alone. It suspended production in Europe earlier this month because of the pandemic. In a separate interview with, VW CFO (Chief Financial Officer), Frank Witter said that passenger car sales were down 40% in March. He added that the company has yet to tap any bank credit lines, which are said to be worth in excess of $22 billion.

The carmaker, which owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, and Skoda brands, sold 10.96 vehicles last year. It also makes Ducati motorbikes as well as MAN and Scania trucks

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