Workers and politicians reacted with alarm this week after plans leaked showing Volkswagen is weighing cuts roughly twice as deep as anything it has previously floated, with up to 100,000 jobs potentially eliminated and four German manufacturing sites shuttered over the coming years, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Reuters and a report in Manager Magazin.
The cuts represent up to 15% of Volkswagen’s global headcount.
Hanover, Zwickau, Emden, and Audi’s Neckarsulm facility are the four sites under review. Closing them would expose more than 45,000 workers to redundancy, on top of the 50,000 positions already agreed for reduction with unions in late 2024, pushing the potential total to around 100,000.
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That earlier agreement had been framed as a compromise that avoided factory closures and ruled out compulsory redundancies through 2030, making the new figures a significant escalation. Audi workers hold employment guarantees until 2033.
A supervisory board meeting is scheduled for July 9, and CEO Oliver Blume had briefed senior executives on the proposals earlier this week ahead of that session. Capital expenditure would shrink by around 15%, pulling five-year projected spending down to just above €130 billion.
The plans reportedly include spinning off VW’s core passenger-car brand and its components business into standalone units, a structure analysts say could eventually open the door to independent stock listings.
IG Metall chair Christiane Benner, works council chief Daniela Cavallo, and lead VW negotiator Thorsten Gröger issued a joint statement calling the plans “irresponsible threats” and pledging to block them “with all our strength.” Lower Saxony’s Minister-President Olaf Lies, whose state holds a blocking minority on the supervisory board, said the region would not endorse any plan that leans on plant closures as an easy fix.
The competitive pressure driving the restructuring is stark. Non-Chinese automakers’ share of the Chinese market fell to 32% in 2025 from 57% in 2020, according to AlixPartners data cited by Reuters. Volkswagen, once the top-selling foreign brand in China, was overtaken by BYD in 2024 and fell further to third behind Geely in 2025.
Chinese brands have simultaneously gained ground in Europe, with BYD, Chery, SAIC, and Leapmotor doubling their combined European market share through May compared with a year earlier.
Approached for comment, a Volkswagen spokesperson said the company does not address “internal, confidential documents,” while acknowledging that the entire group “must undergo far-reaching change.”
