Audi CEO Faces Backlash After Trump Rally Pledge of USD4B US Plant
IG Metall, Germany’s powerful trade union, accused Audi CEO Gernot Doellner of wading into politics and unveiling a US factory plan while employees in Germany fear possible plant closures.
“The way Gernot Doellner presented himself and Audi in the US is highly embarrassing and politically unacceptable,” Christiane Benner, IG Metall’s first chairwoman, said in a statement, adding that his appearance did a disservice to the company and, above all, to the workers who build its cars.
The uproar traces back to Saturday, when Trump used a campaign event in Perry, Georgia, to spring an announcement that Audi would build a new plant there. Doellner then stepped up to the stage and thanked the US president for his backing. The project involves a $4 billion (€3.6 billion) investment and roughly 4,500 new jobs.
Benner argued that the CEO’s presence at a US campaign event flagrantly breached Audi’s own rules, which expressly demand political neutrality ahead of elections.
She also took aim at the rush to publicize the American plant, emphasizing that a final decision to build a factory must be approved by the appropriate bodies, among them the supervisory board of Volkswagen AG.
“For months, our employee representatives have been demanding job security for the German sites, alongside a clear North America strategy from Volkswagen and Audi,” she said.
“Our primary focus remains, at all times, on ensuring secure employment prospects for our colleagues at all of our local plants. This will continue to shape future discussions and decisions within the company’s governing bodies,” Benner added.
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