By Cristina Gallardo
Rheinmetall's Chief Executive Armin Papperger recently visited Volkswagen's Osnabrueck plant with other company representatives, days after he floated the possibility of buying the site and transforming it into a defense manufacturing facility.
Representatives from Rheinmetall and Volkswagen held a meeting in the context of a military vehicles joint venture they formed in 2010, called the Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles, a spokesperson for Volkswagen said Friday, confirming a story first published by Reuters.
"During the meeting, potential opportunities for further collaboration within the RMMV joint venture were discussed openly and without predetermined outcomes," the spokesperson said. "However, no concrete implications for the site arise from this discussion."
Volkswagen announced that it will end production at Osnabrueck, located in northwest Germany, in 2027, leaving a question mark over the future of the plant's 2,300 employees, just at a time that Rheinmetall is looking for ways to ramp up its production of military hardware.
Germany's biggest arms maker is open to buying other ammunition manufacturers as well as plants from carmakers, Papperger told a call with investors earlier this month, pointing out that the Osnabrueck site, located in northwest Germany, could easily be transformed into a defense manufacturing plant.
"One thing is clear: before I'll build a new tank factory in Germany, we'll of course take a look at it," Papperger said at the time, adding that an acquisition of Osnabrueck could take place very quickly if the deal was right.
A Rheinmetall spokesperson declined to comment on the meeting, citing the company's policy not to release information on board members' appointments.
Write to Cristina Gallardo at cristina.gallardo@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 28, 2025 12:50 ET (16:50 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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