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after the manufacturer threatened to close plants amid falling demand and a slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles.
Workers on their morning shifts went on strike for two hours, while those on the evening shift plan to leave work early in protest at the carmaker's demands, which include a 10% wage cut.
At Volkswagen's main plant in Wolfsburg, which employs 70,000 people, a two-hour strike means several hundred cars cannot be built, union sources said.
Workers at Volkswagen factories across Germany have begun strikes after the manufacturer threatened to close plants amid falling demand and a slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles.
Workers on their morning shifts went on strike for two hours, while those on the evening shift plan to leave work early in protest at the carmaker's demands, which include a 10% wage cut.
At Volkswagen's main plant in Wolfsburg, which employs 70,000 people, a two-hour strike means several hundred cars cannot be built, union sources said.
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In addition to Wolfsburg and Hanover, which employs a further 14,000 staff, plants affected include Zwickau, VW's EV-only plant, where workers will strike today and tomorrow.
It is the first time the company has threatened to close factories in Germany in its 87-year history as European manufacturers battle foreign competition, high production costs and slow uptake of electric vehicles on the continent.
Sales of VW cars have plummeted in Europe as demand stalls and consumers return to petrol. Globally, sales in the first three months of the year dropped by three per cent as the sales of petrol motors rose by four per cent.
The crisis at Europe's largest carmaker has hit Germany at a time of economic uncertainty and domestic political upheaval, as well as wider turmoil among the region's automakers.
Several thousand workers of Europe's largest carmaker Volkswagen AG gather during pay-rise protests on the grounds of VW's largest plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, December 2
It is the first time the company has threatened to close factories in Germany in its 87-year history
The VW strikes, which could escalate into 24-hour or unlimited stoppages unless a deal is struck in the next round of wage negotiations, will reduce Volkswagen's output, adding to the impact of declining deliveries and plunging profit.
'How long and how intensive this confrontation needs to be is Volkswagen's responsibility at the negotiating table,' Thorsten Groeger, who leads negotiations on behalf of the IG Metall union, said.
'Anyone who ignores the workforce is playing with fire - and we know how to turn sparks into flames,' he added.
VW workers go on strike over pay after EV uptake plunged by a quarter
after the manufacturer threatened to close plants amid falling demand and a slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles.
Workers on their morning shifts went on strike for two hours, while those on the evening shift plan to leave work early in protest at the carmaker's demands, which include a 10% wage cut.
At Volkswagen's main plant in Wolfsburg, which employs 70,000 people, a two-hour strike means several hundred cars cannot be built, union sources said.
Workers at Volkswagen factories across Germany have begun strikes after the manufacturer threatened to close plants amid falling demand and a slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles.
Workers on their morning shifts went on strike for two hours, while those on the evening shift plan to leave work early in protest at the carmaker's demands, which include a 10% wage cut.
At Volkswagen's main plant in Wolfsburg, which employs 70,000 people, a two-hour strike means several hundred cars cannot be built, union sources said.
The video player is currently playing an ad.
In addition to Wolfsburg and Hanover, which employs a further 14,000 staff, plants affected include Zwickau, VW's EV-only plant, where workers will strike today and tomorrow.
It is the first time the company has threatened to close factories in Germany in its 87-year history as European manufacturers battle foreign competition, high production costs and slow uptake of electric vehicles on the continent.
Sales of VW cars have plummeted in Europe as demand stalls and consumers return to petrol. Globally, sales in the first three months of the year dropped by three per cent as the sales of petrol motors rose by four per cent.
The crisis at Europe's largest carmaker has hit Germany at a time of economic uncertainty and domestic political upheaval, as well as wider turmoil among the region's automakers.
Several thousand workers of Europe's largest carmaker Volkswagen AG gather during pay-rise protests on the grounds of VW's largest plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, December 2
It is the first time the company has threatened to close factories in Germany in its 87-year history
The VW strikes, which could escalate into 24-hour or unlimited stoppages unless a deal is struck in the next round of wage negotiations, will reduce Volkswagen's output, adding to the impact of declining deliveries and plunging profit.
'How long and how intensive this confrontation needs to be is Volkswagen's responsibility at the negotiating table,' Thorsten Groeger, who leads negotiations on behalf of the IG Metall union, said.
'Anyone who ignores the workforce is playing with fire - and we know how to turn sparks into flames,' he added.
VW workers go on strike over pay after EV uptake plunged by a quarter
