The Austrian car industry is heavily dependent on exports. Goods worth 28.5 billion euros are produced annually, 85% of which are exported. A full 65% of them go to Germany. So it only seems logical that plant closures and workforce reductions announced in the neighboring country will also be felt in Austria. In a newly published research letter from ASCII, Logistikum of the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences and Complexity Science Hub, the economic dependence of the domestic auto industry on VW has now been examined in more detail. Accordingly, 135 companies supply German VW plants, with 6,300 jobs directly dependent on VW orders. These could be affected by cuts.
The German automotive industry is losing market share to a large extent to Chinese electric car manufacturers. German car manufacturers have not responded sufficiently to the changing needs of customers and are advancing the development of new technologies too timidly. Volkswagen has now announced three plant closures in Germany for 2026. But what does this mean for the automotive industry in Austria? Scientists from ASCII, Logistikum of the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences and Complexity Science Hub are now investigating this question in a newly published research brief.
135 DOMESTIC COMPANIES AND 6,300 JOBS ARE LINKED TO VW
The scientists identified 135 domestic companies that have direct economic relationships with VW. To do this, they not only used high-resolution and detailed company data, but also used a newly developed analysis method to automatically extract company relationships from an extensive archive of websites. “According to our calculations, 6,300 jobs are linked to business relationships with German VW plants. Most of these companies can be found in the automotive cluster in Upper Austria and Styria,” explains ASCII director and CSH scientist Peter Klimek. More optimistic or pessimistic estimates put the number at 3,600 to 10,900 jobs.
COMPONENT MANUFACTURERS IMMEDIATELY AFFECTED
But not all suppliers are affected to the same extent by the crisis at VW. In the short term, the economic impact is likely to be felt most dramatically by component manufacturers. Machine suppliers, on the other hand, are more likely to experience long-term losses. For example, through canceled investments in new plants and the associated lost growth opportunities.
THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG
“Ultimately, the current crisis at VW is just the tip of the iceberg. EU-wide structural reforms and a clear setting of priorities are necessary to prevent widespread losses of value creation across the entire industry and to reduce the gap to China with the next technological leap,” says Markus Gerschberger, Deputy Director of the ASCII and professor at the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences. These include: reducing energy costs, increasing automation, and increasing technological competitiveness.
ABOUT THE STUDY
The research brief “How Dependent Is the Austrian Automotive Industry on Volkswagen?” by Mitja Devetak, Ladislav Bartuska, Jakob Haussteiner, Georg Heiler, Maximillian Hess, Klaus Friesenbichler, Markus Gerschberger, Hernán Picatto and Peter Klimek here ready for download.
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