Volkswagen faces mounting pressure to keep up with Tesla and Chinese automakers in the transition to battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), and its success in doing so could have major implications.
During the pandemic, Volkswagen fell behind in the Chinese auto market as companies like BYD, Nio, and Tesla took over, with the competition nearly doubling the market’s EV and hybrid offerings (via Bloomberg). Volkswagen’s global sales of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) haven’t managed to accelerate as fast as rivals Tesla or BYD, and the threat of growing EV startups also looms.
In the second quarter alone, Tesla delivered 466,140 as the world’s top BEV seller, followed by BYD with roughly 328,600 units sold, according to BloombergNEF. Volkswagen had just around 145,000 sales.
Credit: Bloomberg
Now, as the presence of Chinese automakers and Tesla grows in Europe, Volkswagen is being tested by fierce competition, and the automaker risks severe consequences to the German economy, which is Europe’s largest economy. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock highlighted the urgency of the situation at the Münich Car Show last week.
“The auto industry is faced with the question of whether and how we will be a global leader in the future,” Baerbock said at the event. “For our nation, where the auto industry accounts for a large share of value creation, this is not just an economic issue, but also a question of security.”
Tesla’s upcoming release of the highly anticipated Cybertruck and its recently refreshed Model 3 Highland are set to increase pressures put on Volkswagen to make appealing BEVs, not to mention the U.S. automaker’s lineup-wide price cuts made throughout this year.
Meanwhile, the global EV market is growing rapidly, and BloombergNEF data predicts that BEV sales will nearly rival gas car sales in the global market by 2030, surpassing them altogether by 2031.
Credit: Bloomberg
Volkswagen hasn’t exactly had a smooth introduction to BEVs. In 2015, the company admitted to cheating on emissions standards through the use of its “clean diesel” products, and it later paid out over $9.5 billion in settlement money to vehicle owners. Today, the automaker still hasn’t rebounded to pre-pandemic production levels across vehicle segments in Germany.
“Our international competition is not sitting idle,” said Hildegard Müller, the auto lobby German Association for the Automotive Industry (VDA) leader. “Our companies are mainly generating their profits abroad, helping to keep jobs in Germany. But the pressure is rising because of weak economic growth and conditions that are no longer internationally competitive.”
Credit: Bloomberg
During the same period of time, Tesla has expanded significantly with the addition of new production facilities in Austin, Texas, within the U.S., and overseas in Shanghai, China and outside of Berlin, Germany. Earlier this year, Tesla also announced plans to debut an upcoming factory in Mexico.
In the last few years, Volkswagen has also seen a shake-up of executive power, with CEO Oliver Blume taking over for former CEO Herbert Diess last fall. Since taking over and retaining his title as head of Porsche, Blume has managed new partnerships and hopes to fix issues at Cariad, the automaker’s in-house software developer.
Earlier this week, a German publication reported that Volkswagen’s BEV plant in Zwickau, Germany would cut as many as 2,500 jobs, though the automaker hasn’t responded to the reports. The Zwickau facility has been exclusively producing BEVs since last January, and it produced a total of 218,000 units last year.
The German automaker also has plans to build a $2 billion BEV factory in South Carolina, which is expected to begin production in 2026. The plant will bring back the Volkswagen Scout as a BEV brand, along with other vehicles in the SUV and pickup segments.
Volkswagen’s Scout to build $40K electric SUV in South Carolina
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Elon Musk
SpaceX secures win as US labor board drops oversight case
The NLRB confirmed that it no longer has jurisdiction over SpaceX.
SpaceX scored a legal victory after the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decided to dismiss a case which accused the company of terminating engineers who were involved in an open letter against founder Elon Musk.
The NLRB confirmed that it no longer has jurisdiction over SpaceX. The update was initially shared by Bloomberg News, which cited a letter about the matter it reportedly reviewed.
In a letter to the former employees’ lawyers, the labor board stated that the affected employees were under the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board (NMB), not the NLRB. As a result, the labor board stated that it was dismissing the case.
As per Danielle Pierce, a regional director of the agency, “the National Labor Relations Board lacks jurisdiction over the Employer and, therefore, I am dismissing your charge.”
The NMB typically oversees airlines and railroads. The NLRB, on the other hand, covers most private-sector employers, as well as manufacturers such as Boeing.
The former SpaceX engineers have argued that the private space company did not belong under the NMB’s jurisdiction because SpaceX only offers services to “hand-picked customers.”
In an opinion, however, the NMB stated that SpaceX was under its jurisdiction because “space transport includes air travel” to get to outer space. The mediation board also noted that anyone can contact SpaceX to secure its services.
SpaceX had previously challenged the NLRB’s authority in court, arguing that the agency’s structure was unconstitutional. Jennifer Abruzzo, the NLRB general counsel under former United States President Joe Biden, rejected SpaceX’s claims. Following Abruzzo’s termination under the Trump administration, however, SpaceX asked the labor board to reconsider its arguments.
SpaceX is not the only company that has challenged the constitutionality of the NLRB. Since SpaceX filed its legal challenge against the agency in 2024, other high-profile companies have followed suit. These include Amazon, which has filed similar cases that are now pending.
News
Tesla accuses IG Metall member of secretly recording Giga Berlin meeting
The union has denied the electric vehicle maker’s allegations.
Police seized the computer of an IG Metall member at Tesla Giga Berlin on Tuesday amid allegations that a works council meeting was secretly recorded.
The union has denied the electric vehicle maker’s allegations.
In a post on X, Gigafactory Berlin plant manager André Thierig stated that an external union representative from IG Metall attended a works council meeting and allegedly recorded the session. Thierig described the event as “truly beyond words.”
“What has happened today at Giga Berlin is truly beyond words! An external union representative from IG Metall attended a works council meeting. For unknown reasons he recorded the internal meeting and was caught in action! We obviously called police and filed a criminal complaint!” Thierig wrote in his post on X.
Police later confirmed to local news outlet rbb24 that officers did seize a computer belonging to an IG Metall member at the Giga Berlin site on Tuesday afternoon. Tesla stated that employees had contacted authorities after discovering the alleged recording.
IG Metall denied Tesla’s accusations, arguing that its representative did not record the meeting. The union alleged that Tesla’s claim was simply a tactic ahead of upcoming works council elections.
The next works council election at Giga Berlin is scheduled for March 2 to 4, 2026. The facility’s management had confirmed the dates to local news outlets. The official announcement marks the start of the election process and campaign period.
Approximately 11,000 employees are eligible to participate in the vote.
The previous works council election at the plant took place in 2024, and it was triggered by a notable increase in workforce size. Under German labor law, regular works council elections must be held every four years between March 1 and May 31.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s xAI plants flag in Bellevue AI hotspot
The lease places xAI’s new office in one of the region’s fastest-growing tech hubs.
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has leased a full floor at Lincoln Square South in downtown Bellevue, WA, as per city permit filings.
The lease places xAI’s new office in one of the region’s fastest-growing tech hubs.
Public records indicate that xAI leased roughly 24,800 square feet in Lincoln Square South. The location was previously occupied by video game company Epic Games. Lincoln Square South is part of the Bellevue Collection, which is owned by Kemper Development Co.
The lease was first referenced in January by commercial real estate firm Broderick Group, which noted that an unnamed tenant had secured the space, as stated in a report from the Puget Sound Business Journal. Later filings identified xAI as the occupant for the space.
xAI has not publicly commented on the lease.
xAI hinted at plans to open an office in the Seattle area back in September, when the startup posted job openings with salaries ranging from $180,000 to $440,000. At the time, the company had narrowed its location search to cities on the Eastside but had not finalized a lease.
xAI’s Bellevue expansion comes as Musk continues consolidating his businesses. Last week, SpaceX acquired xAI in a deal that valued the artificial intelligence startup at $250 billion. SpaceX itself is now valued at roughly $1.25 trillion and is expected to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) later this year.
Musk already has a significant presence in the region through SpaceX, which employs about 2,000 workers locally. That initiative, however, is focused largely on Starlink satellite development.
Bellevue has increasingly become a center for artificial intelligence companies. OpenAI has expanded its local office footprint to nearly 300,000 square feet. Data infrastructure firms such as Crusoe and CoreWeave have also established offices downtown.
SpaceX secures win as US labor board drops oversight case
Tesla accuses IG Metall member of secretly recording Giga Berlin meeting
