WOLFSBURG (dpa-AFX) - The Volkswagen Group intends to continue to support the Bundesliga soccer club VfL Wolfsburg despite its multi-billion euro restructuring program. This was confirmed by VW CEO Oliver Blume in two interviews with the "Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung" and the "Wolfsburger Nachrichten".
"We stand firmly by our commitment to VfL Wolfsburg. With the women, with the men and also with the youth. The club is an important part of Volkswagen," said Blume.
Contribution of almost 80 million euros this season
VfL Wolfsburg GmbH is wholly owned by the VW Group. Every year, Volkswagen puts together a complete package of financial support ranging from shirt advertising to the naming rights to the stadium. Years ago, this amounted to around 100 million euros, but was already significantly reduced in 2017. Before this season, the Group increased its contributions again for the first time from around €70 million to just under €80 million.
Europe's largest car manufacturer is suffering from low capacity utilization at its plants and wants to reduce technical capacity at its German sites by over 700,000 vehicles. In total, labor costs are to be reduced by 1.5 billion euros annually./sti/DP/jha