Volkswagen weighs 100,000 job cuts and four plant closures

WOLFSBURG, Germany: Volkswagen’s supervisory board met July 9 to consider a sweeping restructuring plan that could eliminate up to 100,000 jobs and close four German factories, as workers protested against what could become the company’s biggest overhaul.

Europe’s largest automaker is under pressure to cut costs as it battles excess production capacity in Germany, increasing competition from Chinese manufacturers and U.S. import tariffs.

Chief Executive Oliver Blume is seeking support from the supervisory board for deeper cost-cutting measures across the group, which includes the Audi and Porsche brands. He also faces pressure from the Porsche and Piech owner families, whose investments have lost tens of billions of euros in market value in recent years.

Outside Volkswagen’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, workers blew whistles, waved red union flags and marched behind a banner reading "gemeinsam stark" — "strong together."

The IG Metall union said around 400 people joined the protest in Wolfsburg, with union representative Thorsten Groeger warning the company risked a "major conflict" with workers.

Daniela Cavallo, head of Volkswagen’s works council, said employees were not responsible for the crisis facing the auto industry and warned that "great fear and deep uncertainty" were spreading across the company’s factories and offices.

"Industrial jobs here are at risk of going down the drain," unless Volkswagen and politicians got their act together, she said.

A Volkswagen spokesperson said the company understood workers’ concerns but was simplifying its operations and focusing on technology to improve competitiveness.

"We are tightening our investment portfolio and streamlining our corporate structures," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "And yes, we will also have to reduce overcapacity."

Sources said Blume’s proposal includes closing plants in Hanover, Emden, Zwickau and Audi’s Neckarsulm facility while cutting up to 100,000 jobs, roughly double the number currently planned.

According to Spiegel magazine, production at the Zwickau and Emden plants could be phased out within five years. The Hanover commercial vehicle plant could follow in 2032, with Audi’s Neckarsulm site closing in 2034.

Reuters data from Mobility Global estimates Volkswagen’s German plants will operate at 81% of standard capacity in 2026, falling to 73% by the end of the decade. Zwickau, expected to have the highest utilization rate among the threatened plants next year, is projected to decline from 88% in 2026 to 42% by 2030.

Ahead of the meeting, IG Metall mobilized workers at about 20 Volkswagen sites across Germany. "This is a clear message to the board: Not on our watch!" IG Metall President Christiane Benner said in a statement.