An unused one Volkswagen A factory in Germany long thought destined for closure could be saved with a little help from an Israeli weapons company.
According to the Financial TimesVolkswagen is in talks with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, a defense contractor for the State of Israel, about converting the German automaker’s Osnabrück factory to produce parts for the Iron Dome missile defense system.
The Osnabrück plant is currently producing the T-Roc Cabriolet and will continue to do so until 2027. Production of the Porsche 718 Boxster/Cayman has already stopped there.
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Sources told the business newspaper that under the discussed plan, Osnabrück will not produce actual missiles, but rather support systems such as launchers, power generators and the heavy trucks used to transport the missiles. A specialized factory is required for rocket production and this will take place elsewhere in Germany.
If workers agree to the plan, the factory could be rebuilt in 12 to 18 months, and the parties hope to save all of the factory’s 2,300 jobs.
The plan is reportedly supported by the German government, which is busy encouraging external investment to strengthen its manufacturing base.
A Volkswagen spokesman said this Financial Times They are in discussions with “various market participants” about the plant, but there are “currently no concrete decisions or conclusions regarding the future direction”.
The Osnabrück factory was opened in 1874 to produce wagons and was taken over by Karmann in 1901. As a contract manufacturing site, Karmann built cars for Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Renault, Triumph, BMW and Volkswagen in Osnabrück. When Karmann went bankrupt in 2010, Volkswagen took over the plant.
Volkswagen has been hit hard by falling sales in China, slower electric vehicle growth and tariff uncertainty in the US. Earlier this month, the company said annual profits had fallen 53 percent and it planned to cut 50,000 jobs by 2030, down from 35,000 planned a few years ago.
Rafael hopes to sell the Iron Dome system to countries across Europe that are busy rearming after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Iron Dome is a defense missile system designed to track and intercept short-range missiles fired from a maximum distance of 70 km. It was developed by Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries and deployed throughout Israel to protect the country from attacks from Gaza and Lebanon.
If Volkswagen does indeed produce components for the Iron Dome system, it would not be the first time the automaker has made war machines since the end of World War II, as the company’s MAN truck division makes military vehicles alongside Rheinmetall, a German defense producer.
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