Phoenix 24
Factory closures could trigger Germany’s largest automotive restructuring.
WOLFSBURG, GERMANY — July 2026. Volkswagen’s supervisory board has opened decisive negotiations over a restructuring plan that could eliminate as many as 100,000 jobs worldwide. The reported proposal would affect approximately 16 percent of the group’s global workforce. It could become the most extensive transformation in the automaker’s history.
Chief Executive Oliver Blume is reportedly considering the closure of Volkswagen plants in Hanover, Emden and Zwickau, alongside Audi’s Neckarsulm factory. The company has not formally confirmed the final scope of the measures. Management argues that excess production capacity and organizational complexity are weakening the group’s competitiveness.
Volkswagen already agreed to reduce approximately 50,000 positions across several divisions, including 35,000 jobs within its principal brand in Germany. That agreement included a commitment to avoid compulsory layoffs and German factory closures until 2030. The new proposals could reopen that compromise and double the scale of the planned workforce reduction.
IG Metall and Volkswagen’s works council have promised to resist further dismissals and plant closures. Workers have demonstrated at factories across Germany, while regional politicians have warned about the wider economic consequences. Labor representatives hold substantial influence within the supervisory board, making unilateral approval difficult.
Volkswagen faces falling demand in China, aggressive competition from Chinese manufacturers, high production costs in Germany and pressure from United States tariffs. Possible alternatives include repurposing factories, transferring new production to underused plants or simplifying the group’s corporate structure. Any final agreement is expected to require prolonged negotiations among management, unions, shareholders and political authorities.
Volkswagen’s search for competitiveness now threatens the industrial model built around its German workforce.