Audi slashing workforce to fund electric goals

Audi is to axe 9,500 jobs by 2025 to free up cash to spend on the production of electric vehicles (EVs).
The cuts, equivalent to 10.6 per cent of the luxury car firm’s total workforce, aim to save €6 billion (NZ$10.3b). It comes as carmakers struggle with a downturn in the automotive industry and are keen to increase investment in EVs as countries push to ban conventional combustion engines.
Audi, which is owned by Volkswagen, says the reduction in staff numbers will be achieved partly through an early retirement programme. It also claims the extra focus on electric cars will create up to 2,000 jobs.
“The company must become lean and fit for the future, which means that some job profiles will no longer be needed and new ones will be created,” Audi says in a statement.
The decision comes hot on the heels of Daimler announcing it would shed more than 1,000 jobs by the end of 2022 to help reduce costs.
Like its rivals, Audi is spending substantial amounts on new technologies, including battery-electric and hybrid vehicles, connectivity and autonomous driving. But the firm last year also had to pay an €800m fine over its role in the "dieselgate" emissions scandal that started at VW.