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On Friday afternoon, investor Siegfried Wolf presented his concept for the location to some 1,700 participants at a business meeting at MAN in Steyr. Conclusion: “The concept is conclusive, but the price is too high,” said the head of the workers’ works council, Erich Schwarz, in an interview with the APA.
Andreas Tostmann, CEO of MAN, made it clear after the working meeting: “We analyzed other options, the only one with industrial logic” was Wolf’s. He also described it as socially acceptable with a solid investor. He could understand the fears of the workforce, their “sick feeling in the stomach”, but the future solution for Steyr is just Wolf. Otherwise, there is only one way: close the Steyr plant by the end of 2023. Expect the workforce to agree with Wolf on the ballot.
The ex-boss of Magna immediately jumped into the MAN gap: he could not fully understand the “blow to MAN” when one “can no longer make ends meet on his income.” Wolf would like to establish an independent company in Steyr with logistics and sales.
The Steyr brand itself “brings life back”
MAN will continue to produce for MAN until the end of 2022, when it wants to “bring the Steyr brand back to life” with seven “new products” for the export market, he explained. These include light vans with a diesel engine and electric drive, as well as flatbed trucks, box vans and medium trucks weighing between six and twelve tonnes, of which 10,000 driver’s cabins go to Russia each year for the automotive company GAZ. In addition, a city bus with electric propulsion and a 77-passenger bus for regional transport will be built. He also sees potential in aluminum production: Complete wheels from Steyr could go to Ingolstadt, Munich or Stuttgart in southern Germany, depending on his scenario.
From the representatives of the workforce, “there will not be any approval yet,” workers’ works council Erich Schwarz said after the working meeting. When asked if that meant there would be more negotiations, he said it was up to Wolf. In any case, PRO-GE president Rainer Wimmer had “given talks” to the former head of Magna.
Not all employees can stay
Even if the employee representatives do not recommend voting in favor of the Wolf project, there will be no other recommendation. Schwarz: “The employees are mature enough.” Anyone who has to leave, Wolf only wants to take on about 1,250 of the current 1,845 permanent workforce, he doesn’t know, and he doesn’t know what criteria will be used to decide this. Until now, the works council has been concerned about economic sanctions, mainly due to Wolf’s business ties with Russia. In addition, there is a maximum reduction of 15 percent in net income in the event of an acquisition.
The staff will receive a folder with the most important information from the works council next week, Schwarz explained the additional procedure. Voting will take place on April 7, the result will be published on April 8. If it turns out negative and “if Wolf throws in the towel,” then one expects MAN to talk to other potential investors, according to Schwarz, how likely is Wolf to back down if the employee vote is negative, no matter how open? The “Green Mobility” project of the consortium around businessman Karl Egger (KeKelit) is “set up on a broader basis than Wolf’s, if representatives of the workforce have not yet completely given up hope.”
Upper Austrian Governor Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP) had stressed on Friday morning that state policy was “100 percent on the side of representing the workforce.” Yet on the sidelines of a press conference, it is clear that the Munich-based truck maker is giving up on the Steyr location. “The matter has been decided. From today’s perspective, based on everything we’ve been told, MAN will not stay there any longer than until 2023.” The state does not want to side with any particular investor, it is about a sustainable concept and the preservation of Steyr’s own industrial location, so Stelzer. (apa)
