Volkswagen the German automobile giant this grand company is currently in a world of hurt and yesterday it did the unthinkable the CEO announced that he wants to close some car plants plants in Germany and this is unprecedented it has never happened before in the group's 807 year long history the biggest reason is the rise of Chinese electric vehicles China used to be Volkswagen's single biggest Market but then byd and others started growing and Volkswagen's share of the Chinese market started shrinking electric cars and hybrid sales keep growing they made up 25% of All European car sales last year this would have been challenging enough for Volkswagen having to transition from Petrol and Diesel to EVS but then came the Chinese Brands they clawed their way into the European market so expect more potential closures and layoffs these are just the first casualties of the rise of the EV AG