As part of my Grand Tour of German Automotive, I also visited the Volkswagen Transparent Factory Dresden (Gläserne Manufaktur). This plant is something of an oddball in automotive manufacturing, very different from all other automotive plants I have seen. Its purpose is quite different from “normal” car plants, and hence it cannot really be compared to a normal car plant. But it does fulfill its purpose rather well, albeit not quite cheaply. Let me show you this unusual plant…
Volkswagen
The Grand Tour of German Automotive—Volkswagen Osnabrück
The Volkswagen plant in Osnabrück is actually the plant of the former cabriolet specialist Karmann, which went bankrupt in 2009 and was bought by Volkswagen. It is the specialist plant for the Volkswagen brand for cabriolets… but the Volkswagen brand will stop making cabriolets in 2025. It is also the overflow plant if other VW plants need more capacity… but VW itself has overcapacity. As a result, the plant suffers from a lack of love and especially money for investments from the Volkswagen headquarters. Hence, the plant looks run-down. But despite these disadvantages, the organization itself was decent, and better than in Wolfsburg or the Audi plants.
The Grand Tour of German Automotive—Volkswagen Emden
The VW plant in Emden is a well run plant, and among the best in the Volkswagen group. It is also producing only fully electric battery powered vehicles… which are not selling well. This leads to a lot of struggles and problems for the plant. Producing only one type of power train makes production more efficient but less flexible. And Emden is paying the price for this lack of flexibility. Other car makers usually opt to produce all kinds of power trains on the same assembly line. But the organization and lean-ness of the plant was good compared to other German car plants. Let’s have a look.
The Grand Tour of German Automotive—Volkswagen Wolfsburg
Volkswagen is one of the largest car makers in the world, and the largest German car maker. The Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg is by far the largest German automotive plant. However, in terms of lean performance, it is merely mediocre. On the other hand, it is not easy to run a production in protected historic buildings. Lets go and have a look at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg…