Volkswagen To Start Manufacturing Military Equipment

German carmaker Volkswagen has said it is ready to consider a plan to start producing equipment for the German military as part of Europe’s armaments efforts, the British Telegraph reports.

Oliver Blum, CEO of Europe’s largest automaker, said potential partners have not yet contacted the company but are willing to “consider the concept.”

His comments come as the German economy increasingly turns to military production, fueled by fears that the United States is withdrawing support for Europe. German firms such as Rheinmetall and KNDS Group are converting auto parts factories to produce weapons.

According to economists, car factories can employ capacity, as German car exports have halved from their peak before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Asked whether Volkswagen would open its idle capacities for the production of military equipment, Blume said there was a possibility, the British newspaper writes.

“First, I think that given the current geopolitical situation, the decisions we are seeing now in Germany and Europe are the right ones, in the sense that we need to invest more to make ourselves safe again.”

“We are not in specific discussions about what Volkswagen can do. My opinion is that if there were a possibility of producing military vehicles in the future, we would have to consider those concepts as well,” Blume said, adding that everything is just an open question for now.

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