Volkswagen closes design center in Potsdam

Carmaker Volkswagen wants to close its design center in Potsdam. “The center’s function as a future laboratory for new technologies – such as those related to electromobility and the new customer ecosystem associated with it – is gradually being integrated into the regular innovation processes of the Volkswagen Group brands,” a spokeswoman for Volkswagen Group Services said yesterday. “The operational activities of the Volkswagen Group Future Center in Europe will therefore be discontinued at the end of 2024.”

The design center was opened in 2005 and was later restructured and renamed. After the restructuring, it was considered the largest future workshop of the group in the world. According to information from the German Press Agency, around 100 employees were affected. The spokeswoman said that Volkswagen Group Services does not want to comment on discussions regarding the closure of the design center before they are completed.

IG Metall has announced a protest march for next Monday. The Potsdam facility is the second of its kind at the carmaker, along with the one in Wolfsburg. Research vehicles as well as visions and prototypes are built there. “We expect the company to confront the employees as soon as possible and start discussions about changing course,” the union said.