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March 14, 2007

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Audi takes over management responsibility for Volkswagen’s Brussels plant


Photo: Audi

From left: Dr. Werner Widuckel, Member of the Board of Management for Human Resources at AUDI AG, Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management at AUDI AG, Norbert Steingräber, Plant Manager of the plant in Brussel, and Jan Van der Poorten, General Manager of the Socialist Workers’ Union ABVV/ FGTB

Audi needs additional production capacity if it is to continue growing vigorously over the next few years. To that end, AUDI AG is immediately assuming management responsibility for the Brussels plant. This is the crux of a letter of intent signed today by the company management and the Belgian trade unions in Ingolstadt. The priority for Audi is to enhance productivity at its existing German locations, while at the same time safeguarding employment. Audi already set the standard in April 2005 with the agreement entitled "Audi's Future" for the German locations; this gave AUDI AG's workforce a long-term guarantee of employment.

"2006 was the eleventh successive record-breaking year for Audi in respect of vehicle sales, revenue and earnings. Profitable growth is the basic ingredient of our corporate strategy. And it is a strategy that is working.

  


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We are therefore delighted to be able to add to our capacity through the Brussels plant. It will equip us for continued, vigorous growth over the next few years. We intend to build the new compact Audi model at the Brussels plant," explained Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG.

"The Brussels plant now has the opportunity to become part of Audi's success story. This has all been made possible thanks to the agreement to cut personnel costs by 20 percent. We are using the outstandingly qualified workforce as our basis.

It is therefore particularly pleasing that, with 2,200 employees, many more jobs will be preserved than originally envisaged," declared Dr. Werner Widuckel, Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG with responsibility for Human Resources. Widuckel added: "The agreement is now valid without any qualification, and will be implemented in every respect."

The framework conditions for a new general collective agreement are laid down in the letter of intent. This declares that the new, compact Audi model is to be built in Brussels from the end of 2009/start of 2010, after the establishment of competitive pay and cost structures. For a transitional period – from 2007 to 2009 – the Audi A3 is to be built in Brussels as well as various Volkswagen models. It was already successfully built there between autumn 2004 and the end of 2005. The plant's future will be safeguarded thanks to the hub principle for products of the Audi and VW brands. Jobs can then be protected long-term at the Brussels plant.

Peter Mosch, Chairman of the General Works Council of AUDI AG, declared: "We are looking to the future in a positive frame of mind. The General Works Council and Audi's employees are confident of rising to the forthcoming challenges. We know and have respect for our new colleagues in Brussels. Together, we now aim to take Audi forward and achieve the targets we are striving for: growth and job security."

"Audi attaches importance not just to competitiveness – among other things based on flexible working hours involving working time accounts and reduced labour costs per hour – but also to the introduction of attractive tools such as employee profit-sharing that incorporates the criteria of productivity, quality, costs per vehicle and attendance figures," continued Board Member for Human Resources Dr. Werner Widuckel. He added that Audi was looking to boost its attractiveness as an employer with health management measures and ergonomic working conditions. "Those also include the introduction of teamwork within the Audi production system, as well as training programmes and a continuous improvement process," explained Audi Board Member for Production Frank Dreves. "If the proposed restructuring measures are implemented at the Brussels plant, those production operations will have a chance to play a leading role in the car industry. Following the restructuring, the Brussels plant should fulfil the criterion "best in class" in the Volkswagen Group," added Dreves.

(March 12, 2007)

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