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For tens of thousands of workers in Wolfsburg, and in Germany's other "car towns" such as Ingolstadt, Weissach, Munich, Stuttgart and Zwickau, the stakes could not be higher.

Jack Ewing, who lived in and reported from Germany for 28 years, reported from Zwickau in the former East Germany.

Zwickau, a city in Germany’s east, may not be as famous as Detroit, but its economy has revolved around internal combustion engines since August Horch established Audi here at the beginning of the 20th century.

So when Volkswagen announced in 2018 that it would convert its Zwickau factory, the largest private employer in the area, to manufacture nothing but electric vehicles, it was a big deal.

It was a rare case of a major car plant’s switching completely from internal combustion to battery power, making Zwickau a case study for a big question confronting the auto industry.