Volkswagen explores military vehicle production to save German auto plant

​​​​​​BERLIN

Volkswagen is reportedly weighing a strategic entry into the military vehicle production market to secure the future of its Osnabrück plant in northwestern Germany, said media reports.

In the face of a broader crisis in the European auto industry, the facility’s fate remains uncertain once the production of T-Roc Cabriolets concludes in mid-2027, according to the NDR broadcaster and the Neue Osnabrucker Zeitung newspaper.

The German automaker designed two tactical concepts based on its existing Crafter van and Amarok pickup trucks with its own internal resources.

The automaker presented the models at a recent Enforce Tac defense expo in Nuremberg.

Volkswagen reportedly threw a lifeline at the factory, which employs 2,300 workers, to maintain employment levels with the military vehicle project.

It remains unclear, however, whether the prototypes will be enough to secure the interest needed to turn the production plant’s prototype-making operations to concrete manufacturing projects, or what the ultimate scope of military production Volkswagen will undertake might entail.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul