Volkswagen is considering cutting tens of thousands of additional jobs and may even close factories in CEO Oliver Blume’s push to make Europe’s biggest automaker more competitive, the magazine reported. Manager Magazine.
According to the publication, which cites people familiar with the matter, plans presented by Blume at a management board meeting earlier this week include doubling employee reductions to up to 100,000 positions. Today, the group, which owns brands such as Porsche and Audi, employs around 657 thousand people.
Blume is trying to downsize Volkswagen amid the impact of U.S. tariffs, persistent weakness in China and increased competition in Europe from rivals such as BYD and Stellantis. The new strategy will be presented to the supervisory board next month and should mark the starting point for negotiations that could drag on for months.
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At Volkswagen, restructurings tend to lose strength in the face of resistance from union leaders and regional politicians, who together have a blocking majority in this collegiate.
The automaker’s move also reflects the broader difficulties of the German industry. Mercedes-Benz plans to discuss deeper cost cuts with labor representatives, while BMW this month issued a sharp profit warning that sent its shares tumbling.
Blume’s new offensive includes cutting €11 billion in overall costs by the end of the decade, as well as closing four factories in Germany in the medium term, according to the magazine. Among them would be an Audi plant in Neckarsulm and Volkswagen plants in Hanover, Zwickau and Emden.
Blume is also evaluating separating the component units and, crucially, the Volkswagen brand itself, to make the group leaner, according to the report. The brand has been facing difficulties for years in improving its profitability.
Volkswagen “needs to undergo profound changes,” said a company spokesperson, without commenting specifically on the report. Manager Magazine. According to him, the board has been working intensely in recent months on a future plan to realign the company.
Volkswagen shares rose 1.2% in Frankfurt, although they are still down around 25% for the year.
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Blume has already made some progress, including selling a 51% stake in the Everllence marine engine unit to raise cash. Around 28,000 workers have already agreed to leave the company, part of an already announced plan to cut 50,000 jobs in the group by 2030. Volkswagen has also reduced its annual production capacity from 12 million vehicles to something more realistic, close to 9 million.
Labor leaders reacted quickly against the new plans. They “create insecurity among our employees and in the regions where we operate”, the company’s works council and the IG Metall union said in a joint statement. “If these plans move forward, we will fight them with all our might.”
Implementing cuts at Volkswagen is not simple. Workers’ representatives occupy half the seats on the automaker’s supervisory board, and the German state of Lower Saxony — which tends to align with the unions — has two more seats.
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Volkswagen “has suffered years of delays in adjusting the size of its workforce because of control exerted by the regional government and unions,” said Matthias Schmidt, an independent automotive industry analyst based near Hamburg. According to him, competition from Chinese automakers “hits the German giant harder”.
© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.
