Volkswagen (VW) has carried out its plan to lay off 250 workers at its factory in Taubate, São Paulo, Brazil, according to the region's union, report local media sources. The workers have been on holiday since 23 February and had been due to return to work on Tuesday (17 March), according to the reports.
Significance: The VW layoffs come as the country's automotive industry is suffering a third consecutive year of falling sales and exports. Workers had struck against a VW decision to lay off 800 workers at the automaker's plant in Sao Bernardo do Campo in January, with the two sides coming to an agreement that halted the strike. At VW's Taubate plant, the automaker builds the Gol, up! and Voyage, and the Tiguan is forecasted to be added in 2018, which will increase output from about 190,000 units per annum (upa) to 251,000 upa in 2020.
