Volkswagen benefited from €1.5bn in German EV subsidies as it lobbies EU to hit Chinese cars harder

by · EUobserver

Volkswagen’s Osnabrück will be producing weapons for Israel (Source: Volkswagen AG)

Economy

Unlock article and share
By Nikolaj Nielsen,
Brussels
,

Tens of thousands of autoworkers in Germany protested last week against the car giant’s drastic cuts – spanning job losses and plant closures – even as Volkswagen benefited from some €1.48bn in state subsidies to entice people to buy their brand of electric cars.

The figure, released to EUobserver via a parliamentary demand tabled by German Green MP Julian Joswig, revealed that the German state has doled out €10.1bn in environmental bonuses between 2020 to 2026 to lure people into purchasing electric cars.

As an individual named brand, Volkswagen received the most, followed by Tesla with €889m ahead of other brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Renault, Hyundai, Opel, SEAT and Kia.

“When more than €10bn in public funding is involved, it must be possible to trace where the money goes and what economic impact it generates,” said Joswig, in a statement.

German domestic interest in electric cars has shown a steady increase over the years. Last month, over 30-percent of all new cars registered in Germany were electric. That is a new record, according to Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority.

Even so, the German car industry, including Volkswagen, are shedding workers amid plans to cut plants after being caught off guard by US tariffs and China, whose own industry is now pushing into the European market.

On Monday (21 September), Volkswagen was removed from the Euro Stoxx 50 index given its shrinking market valuation.

Volkswagen, which is a state-owned company, recently announced plans to repurpose its Osnabrück factory in north-west Germany in order to manufacture weapons for Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

The irony is not lost given that Volkswagen was founded by Hitler largely on the back of Jewish slave labour, which is now set to produce arms for an Israel accused of having itself committed a genocide.

"I haven't seen that being discussed here. Certainly not in the media. People do discuss it, but it's not anywhere out in the public debate," said Holger Görg, a professor of International Economics at the University of Kiel.

The car company also announced plans to close its plants in Emden, Hanover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm amid discussions of massive layoffs, potentially affecting some 100,000 people as well as job losses among numerous suppliers.

To read this story, log in or subscribe

Enjoy access to all articles and 25 years of archives, comment and gift articles. Become a subscriber for as low as €1,75 per week.

Read without limits
Already a subscriber? Login
Unlock article and share

Latest from China

How a Chinese ‘smart sex toys’ company fed Russian war tech against Ukraine — and exposed an EU sanctions blind spot

Critical minerals at core of Trump-Xi talks as US ups its game in race to rival Beijing

Latest from Germany

[Interview] ‘Poor but sexy’ Berlin faces worsening housing crisis and bad fixes, warns German economist

Germany offers a warning for Europe ahead of 2027 election year: the Putin/Trump security crisis won’t necessarily save the political centre

Latest from Green Economy

Mining firms’ plea for EU critical minerals budget falls on deaf ears

‘Too little, too late’: Europe’s Arctic gas would arrive two decades too late, new research finds

Latest from Tesla

Exclusive: Germany bankrolled Tesla buyers with €860m to help hit EU Covid recovery targets – and now gives €71m to Musk’s Berlin gigafactory too

Latest from Economy

EU-Philippines free-trade pact joins Brussels’ growing ‘harvest’ of Asia deals

Loophole in new EU labelling will let fossil-fuelled data-centres pass as ‘green’

Volkswagen's Osnabrück will be producing weapons for Israel (Source: Volkswagen AG)

Topics

Author Bio

Nikolaj Nielsen joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.

+ Follow author by email