Figures circulating in Portugal compare Volkswagen’s Autoeuropa plant in Palmela with its factory in Emden, Germany. According to an internal company document made public in September 2026, Palmela has higher annual vehicle output per employee and lower hourly labor costs than Emden. The document also includes figures for Volkswagen’s plant in Tianjin, China, as the company weighs costs and future production locations.
The document puts production labor costs at €37 per hour in Palmela, compared with €74 in Emden and €12 in Tianjin. Factory costs per vehicle are listed as €2,385 in Palmela, €4,850 in Emden and €1,078 in Tianjin. These factory costs include expenses such as labor, energy, maintenance, logistics and depreciation, but exclude materials, so they are not the total cost of producing a car.
Annual working hours per employee are reported as 1,419 in Palmela, 1,282 in Emden and 2,065 in Tianjin. The corresponding sickness absence rates are 4.1%, 10.5% and 1%. The document lists annual output at 39.9 vehicles per employee in Palmela, 29 in Emden and 51.3 in Tianjin.
The hourly labor-cost figures should not be treated as wages. They include gross pay, social contributions and other costs borne by the company, and therefore do not establish that Portuguese employees receive half the salary of German employees.
A separate analysis published in October by Germany’s RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research cautioned that the reported annual hours refer to work hours made available, not necessarily hours actually worked. Differences in capacity use, industrial processes and vehicle models can also affect costs and output per employee, limiting direct comparisons between the plants.
Sources: Pplware.