German car giant Volkswagen is planning a major restructure that could see up to 100,000 jobs axed globally in the coming years. Company executives are planning to reduce the workforce in a bid to drive efficiencies and save up to £9.5 billion by 2030, according to local media reports.
Details of the Job Cut Plan
The proposals involve putting four car plants in Germany under review before potentially ending production, Manager Magazin reported. This marks a significant escalation from previous plans, which had targeted 50,000 job cuts by 2030 across the group in Germany. The move would represent about 16% of Volkswagen's global workforce of approximately 625,000 staff.
Volkswagen owns a range of well-known brands including Audi, Bentley, Skoda, and Seat. The cost-cutting is on a much greater scale than previously outlined, with chief executive Oliver Blume having told shareholders that the company was on track to make savings of more than six billion euro (£5.2 billion) by 2030.
CEO Comments and Market Challenges
Blume has said that some 28,000 agreements for staff to leave by 2030 had already been made, relating to those at the Germany headquarters. "The transformation of the entire company is continuing to pick up speed," the boss said. "With these programmes we are methodically addressing all cost categories across all brands." He also noted the group was working to "address the reduction of overcapacities in our production network" by lowering global targets from 12 million vehicles to nine million.
Matthias Schmidt, of Schmidt Automotive Research, commented: "The VW Group has suffered from years of neglect in readjusting workforce numbers due to the stranglehold the regional government and trade unions have on the company. The market reality is hitting the German giant hardest."
Impact of Electric Vehicles and Trade Unions
The restructuring comes amid challenging market conditions, including tariffs on US imports and increased competition in China, where big electric carmakers like BYD have been taking huge shares of the market. Vehicle deliveries dropped by 10% in the US and 8% in China in 2025. However, deliveries rose by 4.5% in Europe to almost four million vehicles.
The job cuts are seen as a response to the shift towards electric vehicles and the influence of trade unions, which have historically hindered workforce adjustments. Reports said details of the new plan were set to be presented to the company's supervisory board on July 9. A spokesperson for Volkswagen said the firm is not commenting on the speculation.
