Volkswagen may axe up to 100,000 jobs in a bid to reduce costs, become more efficient – CEO Blume

Having indicated that it could cut its model line-up by up to half, decrease the number of options offered by up to 75% and reduce production capacity from 10 to nine million vehicles a year, the Volkswagen Group has now confirmed it is now looking to cut up to 100,000 jobs, which is twice that as previously stated.

Previously, the group, which includes the Porsche, Audi, Seat and Skoda brands as well as its Volkswagen mainstay, had indicated it would axe some 50,000 posts in Germany by 2030. Now, in a widely-reported memo sent to staff that was sighted by Reuters, Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said that calculations showed that the group’s costs were 20% higher compared to rival businesses, and so it would need to reduce its spend even further.

This, he said, would mean a ‘theoretical deduction’ of another 50,000 jobs worldwide. “We are currently assessing across all brands, companies and regions how many adjustments are actually necessary and feasible. We need to become more efficient, more robust and simpler. We must reduce our costs,” he said in the memo.

The company had previously declined to comment on reports that it was considering up to 100,000 job cuts, but now has. The memo follows on angry calls from workers for management to explain the company’s restructuring plans that Blume had presented to the company’s supervisory board. Sources told the news agency that labour representatives on the committee blocked the proposals, which were understood to include job cuts and the possible closure of four factories.

In the memo, Blume said the company had been unable to present alternative uses for four factories in Germany which have previously been threatened with closure. “As of today, we still cannot confirm competitive use cases for the plants of Emden, Hanover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm in the 2030s,” he stated in the memo. Two of the plants, in Zwickau and Emden, are used for electric car production, but, like Hanover and Neckarsulm, they are seen as expensive to run, as news reports indicate.

The automaker has suffered a steep decline in profits over the past few years. In 2023, it made an operating profit of €22.6bn ($25.8bn, £19.3bn), but this fell to €19.1bn in 2024 and then to €8.9bn last year. The drop in profits is the result of stiff competition from Chinese carmakers and falling sales in key markets, including China, where sales for the first six months of the year were 26% lower compared to 2025. In the United States, sales have also dropped by seven percent.

While the number of job cuts sounds drastic, some industry analysts have suggested to Agence France Presse that the automaker had deliberately publicised a 100,000 figure as a negotiating tactic, and that the final number of layoffs is likely to be lower.

In terms of models set to be dropped, it was previously reported that the Volkswagen Touareg, Touran and T-Roc Cabriolet, along with the Audi A1, Q2, TT, R8 and Q8 e-tron would be gone or eventually axed from the model line-up, and it’s now said the Porsche Taycan, 718 Boxster and Cayman will likely not get replacements. Tough times indeed for the German automaker, and the way things are shaping up, it could get much worse before it gets better.

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