13:15 27-06-2026

Volkswagen overhaul: up to 100,000 job cuts and four plants on the brink

Manager Magazin reports Oliver Blume is preparing the biggest overhaul in VW's 89-year history: massive job cuts, lower investment and four German plant closures.

Volkswagen looks set to launch not just another cost-cutting program but a complete redesign of the entire group. According to Manager Magazin, CEO Oliver Blume is considering eliminating up to 100,000 jobs worldwide over the next few years, slashing investment by around 15% and possibly ending production at four German plants.

There is no official confirmation of these specific figures yet, but the direction matches Volkswagen’s already declared strategy: the group is moving away from its long-standing bet on maximum volume and trying to restore profitability in a market where China is squeezing prices and technology, EVs demand enormous spending and European factories remain expensive. Earlier reports mentioned tens of thousands of job cuts in Germany by 2030, but the new figure of up to 100,000 takes the story to a different level.

According to Reuters, the investment plan may be trimmed to just over €130 billion over five years. That is still a huge sum — roughly $148 billion — but the very fact of a cut speaks volumes: Volkswagen can no longer afford to fund every platform, every market, every brand and its legacy production network all at the same time. The group has to choose where the money truly delivers.

The most painful part is the plants. The reports point to a possible production shutdown at four German sites, including Volkswagen and Audi facilities. For Germany, this is a blow to a symbol of industrial strength: VW has spent decades as the face of strong employment, powerful unions and a model in which a major automaker holds entire regions together. That model is now colliding with expensive energy, weak demand in Europe and the loss of its former position in China.

Volkswagen’s main problem is not a single failed car. The group is being squeezed from several sides at once. In China, local brands refresh EVs and hybrids faster, offer more advanced interfaces and aggressive pricing. In Europe, EV demand grows unevenly and buyers remain price-sensitive. In the US, the business is under pressure from tariffs and the need to localize. At the same time, Porsche and Audi no longer deliver the easy margins of the past, while the core Volkswagen brand has been fighting high costs for years. The numbers back up the alarm: in the first quarter of 2026 the group’s net profit collapsed by 28% to €1.56 billion, while revenue fell 2% to €75.7 billion.

For the model lineup, the consequences could be sweeping. If VW really does cut investment, part of its niche projects and weak models will be in doubt. Priority will go to high-volume platforms, local partnerships, software-defined vehicles, battery technology and cars that can be sold at a normal margin. Put simply, the era when the group could keep dozens of overlapping models across different brands is coming to an end.

Volkswagen has reached the point where its former size has shifted from an advantage to a burden. Up to 100,000 possible job cuts is no longer a fight over expenses but the admission of a new reality: to survive against China, Tesla and its own expensive European production, the German giant will have to become smaller, tougher and faster. The first real collision of the plan with reality comes on 9 July, when Blume presents his “Group Target Picture” strategy through 2030 to VW’s supervisory board, where worker representatives also sit.