Volkswagen CEO plans biggest overhaul, including 100,000 job cuts

Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume is reportedly planning the company's biggest overhaul in its 89-year history, including up to 100,000 job cuts and the closure of four German factories, according to a Manager Magazin report. This significant restructuring also proposes a roughly 15% reduction in planned investments, bringing them to just over 130 billion euros for the next five years.

Blume and CFO Arno Antlitz aim to radically reshape the company, potentially by separating the core VW brand and its spare parts operations into distinct entities. The move comes as Volkswagen faces pressure to revive the world's second-largest automaker, which is navigating a critical juncture marked by tariffs, intense competition from China, and the expensive shift to electric mobility.

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The entire group, including its brands and subsidiaries, must undergo radical changes.

Under the proposed plan, Volkswagen intends to cease production at its Hanover, Zwickau, and Emden plants, as well as the Audi plant in Neckarsulm, as existing models are phased out. These proposals go beyond the current plan to cut 50,000 jobs and appear to contradict a 2024 agreement with unions that prohibits factory closures in Germany this decade.

A Volkswagen spokesperson declined to comment on "confidential documents," stating that decisions would be discussed and approved by the company's boards. "The entire group, including its brands and subsidiaries, must undergo radical changes," the spokesperson said. However, the Volkswagen works council and the powerful IG Metall union have warned they will resist any such scenario, vowing to do "everything possible to prevent them" if the plans proceed.

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if these plans proceed, they will do everything possible to prevent them.