Audi CEO Faces German Backlash Over Appearance at Trump Rally
Your daily brief on leadership and business
Gernot Döllner, the head of Audi, is under fire in Germany for appearing at a rally with Donald Trump just days before the US midterm elections. He joined the US president on stage on Saturday in Georgia, a battleground state, to announce that Audi would spend $4bn on its first US factory and create 4,500 jobs, even as VW aims to cut positions and close plants in Germany.
The rally was in Perry, near Macon, Georgia. "We are planning to bring our biggest and most premium SUVs, and produce them here in Macon, Georgia," Döllner told the crowd. He called it "a long-term investment because we believe in the American market." Construction would start next year, with car production beginning in the 2030s. The plant would build 200,000 SUVs a year.
Union and works council reactions
Daniela Cavallo, the head of the works council at Audi's parent company Volkswagen, said anyone who heard Trump's speech and then saw Döllner take an active part in the event must "sink into the ground with shame." Her criticism of the speech itself cited "racism, sexism, transphobia [and] contempt for democracy." She said the deal and the appearance showed VW's management had been "turned into a puppet in the propaganda show of a highly dubious political figure." Her remarks came in internal company communications released to German media.
Christiane Benner, head of the IG Metall union and deputy chair of the supervisory board, called the appearance "extremely embarrassing, politically unacceptable and unworthy of the company, but above all of Audi's employees." She said Döllner was in "flagrant breach" of a code of conduct that requires political neutrality before elections. She warned that an investment like the Macon plant would have to go before the supervisory board.
Isabel Cademartori, the transport spokesperson for the Social Democrats, part of Germany's ruling coalition, called Döllner's actions a "disgrace," particularly "in view of the history of the Volkswagen Group." A German government spokesperson declined to comment, calling it "a business decision regarding where the company invests and, in this case, where the company's chief executive appears."
Tariffs and job cuts at home
Audi is the only premium car maker without its own US factory, which leaves it exposed to Trump's 15% import tariffs. They cost it an estimated €1.2bn last year. Meanwhile Volkswagen is in a fight between management and labour over a push to cut as many as 100,000 jobs and close factories. It blames competition from Chinese carmakers, US tariffs and the costly shift to electric vehicles. Audi's Neckarsulm plant, which employs 15,000 people, is one of four VW plants threatened with closure from early next decade.
"Each site must do its part in terms of competitiveness and the long-term strength of Audi," a company spokesperson said.
Source: The Guardian