Volkswagen Strikes Deal with Israel Investment Firm to Turn Car Plant Into Defense Facility
- On Monday, the German state of Lower Saxony, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, and Aurelius Capital signed a letter of intent to purchase Volkswagen's Osnabrück plant, establishing a center for producing Iron Dome support systems and military equipment.
- Qatar, Volkswagen's largest foreign shareholder, blocked the original cooperation proposal, prompting the shift to a full purchase of the site by the new partners.
- The Osnabrück plant currently employs 2,300 people producing Porsche and Volkswagen models; while the Iron Dome's Tamir interceptor will not be manufactured there, Rafael will produce military vehicles, launchers, and generators.
- Minister-President of Lower Saxony Olaf Lies stated the partnership creates "realistic opportunities for long-term, highly skilled employment" at the facility, noting that Germany's security environment has changed fundamentally.
- Rafael President Yoav Tourgeman noted the partnership aims to "protect Germany and Europe," adding that the technology is designed for defense of "today, tomorrow, and well beyond" to ensure reliable security.
153 Articles
153 Articles
The aim is to become a defence industry from car construction: an Israeli investor, together with Lower Saxony, will take over the traditional location in Osnabrück. In the future, components for the air defense of Germany and Europe will be developed there.
The German car group Volkswagen will sell the Osnabrück factory, which will manufacture weapons for Germany and Europe, with the aim of maintaining most of its jobs in the long term.
The overflowing order books of defense groups appear as potential opportunities for constructors' underused factories, in the face of sluggish demand. In this context, the group with ten brands (VW, Porsche, Audi, Skoda...) said that it had “reached an agreement” with the Land of Lower Saxony, an influential shareholder of the manufacturer, and the Israeli private equity fund Aurelius Capital, on “a possible sale of its subsidiary Volkswagen Osn…
Volkswagen strikes deal with Israel investment firm to turn car plant into defense facility
A Volkswagen car plant in northwestern Germany is to be converted to defense production, the company said Monday, as Europe’s biggest economy ramps up military spending amid a continent-wide push to rearm.
The Volkswagen Group, which had pledged to cut up to 100,000 jobs amidst a confluence of difficulties including a sluggish Chinese market, declining productivity, and U.S. tariffs, is selling one of its factories in Germany. According to German media reports, the Volkswagen Group has reached an agreement with Israeli investor Aurelius Capital and the government of Lower Saxony, the group's second-largest shareholder, to acquire its Osnabrück pla…
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