Volkswagen weighs 100,000 job cuts, possible closures at four German plants

Volkswagen was weighing up to 100,000 job cuts and possible closures at four German plants, breaking with the company’s 2024 promise to keep factories open in Germany through 2030. The plan would hit Hanover, Zwickau, Emden and Audi’s Neckarsulm site.

Chief Executive Oliver Blume and Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz were reshaping the core VW brand and its parts operations into separate entities, while trimming planned investment by about 15 percent to a little more than 130 billion euros over the next five years. Tariffs, fierce Chinese competition and the costly shift to electric vehicles have taken longer than expected to pay off.

The latest proposal comes on top of a labor deal Volkswagen sealed in December 2024 with IG Metall and the works council. That agreement realigned production capacities at German sites, ruled out plant closures in Germany through 2030 and set out more than 35,000 job cuts over the longer term. Volkswagen’s annual report put the package, together with lower development spending, on track to deliver more than 4 billion euros a year in medium-term cost effects, while the company’s wage settlement through 2030 was forecast to save 1.5 billion euros a year in labor costs. German technical capacity would be reduced by 734,000 units.

In 2024, the group reported 324.7 billion euros in sales revenue, 19.1 billion euros in operating result and 9.0 million vehicle sales. Intensifying competition and a difficult political and economic environment were already weighing on the business.

By June, 19,000 jobs in Germany were expected to go by the end of 2026, and more than 28,000 binding departure agreements were already in place for 2030. The supervisory board is due to discuss the latest overhaul at a July 9 meeting.