Audi CEO appears at campaign rally to support Trump, German unions criticize violation of neutrality rules

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) On Monday (October 26), Audi CEO Gernot Doellner was fiercely criticized by German trade unions for appearing at a campaign rally for US President Trump.

Last Saturday (October 24), Derna attended Trump’s Republican campaign event near Macon, Georgia, a key swing state. Trump announced at the rally that Audi will build its first U.S. factory there with an annual output of 200,000 SUVs. Derner then took the stage to thank Trump for his support. Audi reportedly said the project would create about 4,500 jobs.

Union: Blatant violation of neutrality rules

Christiane Benner, chairman of the German metal industry union (IG Metall) and deputy chairman of Volkswagen's supervisory board, said Derner's appearance was "extremely embarrassing, politically unacceptable and damaging to the company's image" and a "blatant violation" of Audi's promise to remain politically neutral before the election. Audi's code of conduct states that it must not interact publicly with political parties or candidates in the three months leading up to an election, nor sponsor such events. The U.S. midterm elections will be held on November 3.

Daniela Cavallo, chairman of the Volkswagen Group Works Council, also harshly criticized Derner. She said that Trump made remarks on stage that were "full of racism, sexism, and xenophobia for a few minutes," and then "an executive from our group came on stage to actively support the election." She added that Derner signed the guidelines just months ago and criticized the board under VW Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume for becoming "a puppet in a propaganda show" for Trump.

German automotive expert Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer called Derna a "miniature version of Musk." Trump has previously expressed support for Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party, making him a controversial ally in the eyes of Germany's political and business mainstream.

Factory construction plan: commercially reasonable, but subject to approval by the supervisory board

The union emphasized that this investment has not yet been approved by all relevant organizations of the Volkswagen Group and must ultimately be decided by the Volkswagen Supervisory Board. Cavallo believes that the U.S. market is large and profitable, so building a factory in the U.S. makes sense from a business perspective, but employee representatives will only consider approval after clarifying the impact of the new factory on factories in Germany and other places.

According to Reuters, Audi lost about 1.2 billion euros last year due to U.S. import tariffs. At the same time, Volkswagen is advancing plans to lay off 100,000 people, and the Audi Neckarsulm plant, which employs about 15,000 people, is at risk of closing. Analysts at Metzler said it "didn't look good" to create jobs in the United States while cutting production capacity globally, but the decision to produce in the United States was the right one.