Volkswagen gives up layoff at popular car factory – 06/01/2023 – Market

Volkswagen announced that it has given up suspending the employment contracts of around 800 employees at the Taubaté (SP) factory, five days after the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) announced that it will launch a plan to reduce the price of new popular cars.

“The reason (for the withdrawal) are the new perspectives for the sales demand in the automobile sector”, informed the company in an official note.

The package for the sector should be announced by next week, according to the government. Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) said that the main measure will be the reduction of taxes such as IPI and PIS/Cofins for vehicles worth up to R$ 120 thousand.

The discount can vary between 1.5% and 10.96%, according to the price range, energy efficiency and national production involved in the assembly. After the announcement, there was a drop in the number of registrations of zero-kilometer cars in the midst of waiting for the disclosure of the measures.

The suspension of contracts at the Volkswagen factory in Taubaté was scheduled to start on June 1. But, on May 11, the company postponed the start of operations to July 1, according to Sindmetau (Metalworkers’ Union of Taubaté and Region).

This Wednesday (31), the union said it had been informed by the automaker that the so-called layoff will not take place until the end of this year. In a statement, Volkswagen reported that it canceled the measure and did not mention whether it is valid only for 2023, as claimed by the union.

“This directly affects us workers and the product we have here at the Taubaté factory. This was a discussion of the union movement together with the federal government and the automakers. And now we are starting to see the results”, said the president of Sindmetau, Claudio Batista.

Volkswagen sales leader is produced in Taubaté

The Taubaté factory is responsible for producing the Polo Track and the Novo Polo. The Volkswagen Polo, which was the second best-selling model in the country and ranked first among hatches, had 7,636 registrations in May. It was one of the few to record high sales in its segment: growth of 25.9% over April.

Sales of new vehicles dropped after the government’s announcement. Registrations fell by around 30% in the period from May 25 to 30, compared to the same period in April, show market data obtained by Sheet. Most were passenger cars, but the account also includes other categories, such as trucks and buses. From April 25th to 30th, 47,815 vehicles were licensed in the country. From May 25 to 30, the total was 33,417, 30.1% less.