Wages are in danger of being slashed for workers at Europe’s biggest carmaker. Volkswagen told labor leaders it’s looking to close at least three German factories, downsize other plants and impose a 10% universal pay cut. The plans are another blow to Europe’s largest economy, which is stagnating amid higher energy costs and budget austerity. The German automaker’s management is struggling with waning demand in Europe along with intensifying competition from China’s BYD. Workers at the company say they’re being made to pay for boardroom mistakes, including VW’s botched shift toward electric vehicles and bad pricing policies.
Philips caught a cold after China sneezed, sending shares of the medical-technology developer falling the most in more than a quarter century. The Dutch company lowered its annual sales expectations because of tepid Chinese demand and retreating orders. Uncertainty in China will remain in “the next few quarters,” Chief Executive Officer Roy Jakobs said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. The Amsterdam-based manufacturer has been affected by an anti-corruption campaign across China’s health-care sector as the Asian nation scrutinizes local medical-technology procurement.