Volkswagen may need to eliminate approximately 50,000 additional jobs worldwide as part of an extensive cost-cutting program designed to restore its competitiveness in an increasingly challenging global automotive market.
The potential reduction would come on top of roughly 50,000 job cuts already agreed across the Volkswagen Group, including measures affecting its Volkswagen passenger-car business and the Audi and Porsche subsidiaries. If fully implemented, the restructuring could therefore affect as many as 100,000 positions.
Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume disclosed the scale of the possible adjustment in an internal memorandum sent to employees and reviewed by Reuters. The document represents the clearest acknowledgment from the company’s leadership that its workforce reduction could be substantially larger than previously announced.
Blume said Volkswagen had calculated that its costs were approximately 20% higher than those of comparable companies. Applying that disadvantage to personnel expenses resulted in a “theoretical deduction” of another 50,000 jobs, according to the memorandum.
However, the executive emphasized that Volkswagen has not made a final decision on the exact number of positions that could disappear.
“We are currently assessing across all brands, companies and regions how many adjustments are actually necessary and feasible,” Blume said in the document.
Why could Volkswagen cut another 50,000 jobs?
Volkswagen is under pressure from several fronts. The automaker is dealing with billions of euros in tariff-related costs, declining profitability, growing competition from Chinese manufacturers and an expensive production network in Germany.
The company is particularly vulnerable in China, historically one of its most important and profitable markets. Local manufacturers such as BYD, Geely and SAIC have expanded rapidly by offering electric and hybrid vehicles with advanced digital features at highly competitive prices.
Volkswagen’s global vehicle deliveries fell 8.6% during the second quarter of 2026, while deliveries in China dropped by more than one-third, according to figures reported by the Associated Press. The Volkswagen passenger-car brand recorded a 14% decline, while Porsche deliveries fell 18% and Audi reported an 8% decrease.
The deterioration has increased pressure on Blume to simplify Europe’s largest automaker, which operates a broad portfolio that includes Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Škoda, Seat, Cupra, Bentley and Lamborghini, as well as commercial-vehicle and truck businesses.
Could Volkswagen eliminate as many as 100,000 positions?
Volkswagen has already agreed to eliminate approximately 50,000 jobs across the group. The previously announced measures include around 35,000 positions at the core Volkswagen brand in Germany by 2030, primarily through voluntary departures, early retirement and natural attrition.
The additional 50,000 positions mentioned by Blume are not yet an approved target. Instead, they represent an estimate of the workforce adjustment that could theoretically be required if personnel costs were reduced in line with the company’s overall cost disadvantage.
If both rounds of reductions were completed, Volkswagen could eliminate up to 100,000 jobs globally. That would amount to roughly 16% of its workforce and would represent one of the largest corporate restructuring programs in the history of the automotive industry.
Reports of the potential plan have already triggered strong opposition from employees and unions. Labor representatives hold significant power within Volkswagen’s supervisory board under Germany’s co-determination system and can block or delay major decisions affecting factories and employment.
Which Volkswagen factories could be affected?
The internal memorandum also raised uncertainty about the long-term future of four German production facilities: Emden, Hanover, Zwickau and Audi’s Neckarsulm plant.
“As of today, we still cannot confirm competitive use cases for the plants of Emden, Hanover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm in the 2030s,” Blume told employees.
The statement does not mean that the factories will necessarily close. Blume said he preferred finding “intelligent solutions” for facilities with insufficient workloads instead of shutting them down.
Possible alternatives include assigning new vehicles to the plants, manufacturing models developed with Volkswagen’s Chinese partners in Europe or converting some industrial facilities for use by other sectors. The defense industry has emerged as one of the possibilities for repurposing underused German automotive plants.
Labor representatives reportedly blocked restructuring proposals presented to Volkswagen’s supervisory board on July 9. The proposals were said to include further job cuts and the possible closure of four factories, although the company did not publicly confirm those measures after the meeting.
Volkswagen has maintained that its German operations must become more efficient, but any plant closures would be politically and socially sensitive. The company’s earlier agreement with labor representatives was designed to avoid forced layoffs and preserve German facilities through the end of the decade.
Volkswagen will cut its model lineup and production capacity
While Volkswagen’s public statement following the supervisory-board discussions did not mention job losses or factory closures, the automaker confirmed that it would reduce its production capacity and simplify its vehicle portfolio.
The group plans to gradually cut its model lineup by as much as 50%, concentrating investment on the most attractive and profitable market segments. It also intends to reduce the number of equipment combinations and options by as much as 75%.
Volkswagen’s global annual production capacity is expected to fall to around nine million vehicles. The company previously built its manufacturing strategy around a capacity of approximately 12 million vehicles a year, leaving several European plants underused as demand weakened.
Reducing the number of models and configurations could allow Volkswagen to lower development, purchasing, manufacturing and marketing costs. It could also help the group accelerate decision-making at a time when Chinese competitors are bringing new electric vehicles to market much faster.
Still, analysts have warned that reducing production and eliminating models may not be sufficient unless Volkswagen also addresses its high fixed costs, complex corporate structure and declining competitiveness in software and electric vehicles.
What happens next with Volkswagen’s restructuring?
The potential job cuts remain under review and will require further negotiations with Volkswagen’s employee representatives, unions and supervisory board.
Blume acknowledged that the restructuring program is still incomplete and that several measures need additional analysis.
“Of course, it’s understandable that not everything has been planned out down to the last detail yet, and that certain issues still need to be further discussed and evaluated,” the CEO said in his message.
“There will certainly be more meetings in which we will work hard to find the best solutions.”
Volkswagen must now balance two competing priorities: reducing costs quickly enough to compete with more efficient global rivals while avoiding a prolonged confrontation with its German workforce.
The outcome could redefine the company’s industrial footprint, vehicle portfolio and employment structure for the next decade. For Volkswagen employees, however, the memorandum confirms that the restructuring is no longer limited to the reductions already announced—and that tens of thousands of additional jobs could be at stake.
