A Volkswagen would be planning cut up to 100 thousand jobs in the coming years, which represents 15% of your global workforce.
The job cuts would occur alongside the planned closure of four factories in Germany and a 15% reduction in investments over the next five years, according to a report published this Friday (26) by Manager Magazinea German business magazine.
The report added that Volkswagen – Germany’s largest automaker and one of its main employers – plans to separate its main brand and its auto parts business into separate entities. The company owns several other brands, including Audi and Porsche.
A Volkswagen spokesperson declined to comment to CNN International about “internal and confidential documents”.
“The underlying issues will be discussed and approved in the respective committees,” the spokesperson added. “We are not going to anticipate this process.”
VW employs almost 660,000 people worldwide and had previously announced plans to cut 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030.
Like many European automakers, the company has been, in addition to struggling, like BYD.
Volkswagen’s spokesperson said the company needs “a sharper focus as well as stricter discipline regarding costs and investments” to adapt to its new reality, adding that its traditional business model – manufacturing cars in Europe and exporting them globally – “no longer works” for all its brands.
Any job cuts are likely to meet resistance from German unions.
“If such plans go ahead, we will stop them with all our strength,” union IG Metall and Volkswagen’s General Works Council said in a joint statement on Friday.
Volkswagen shares were down 1.5% in early afternoon local time. Its shares have fallen by more than 25% this year.
CNN International’s Robert North and Chris Isidore contributed to this report
