On Friday, Volkswagen is set to announce its first cut in capital spending since the 2009 financial crisis, a sign of how the German carmaker's emissions-cheating scandal is weakening the position of its labor unions. Analysts expect VW to cut annual spending on factories, models and equipment by 10 percent from the 17.1 billion euros ($18.4 billion) announced last year. According to CEO Matthias Mueller, the company needs to overhaul its strategy and decentralize product planning and sales operations, steps that will remove key decision-making from the IG Metall union's stronghold of Wolfsburg, where it represents more than 95 percent of VW workers.
See "VW to Cut Capex as Emissions Scandal Weakens Unions", November 19, 2015