--- title: "VW Reportedly Plans to Cut Up to 100,000 Jobs and Close Four German Plants" description: "Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has reportedly presented a restructuring plan that would eliminate as many as 100,000 jobs worldwide — roughly 15% of the group — and close four German plants, German and international media reported. It would be the deepest overhaul in VW's history; the plan has not been approved." category: "Companies" category_url: https://boursel.com/category/companies author: "Sofia Marchetti" published: 2026-06-26T11:30:00.000Z updated: 2026-06-26T11:30:00.000Z canonical: https://boursel.com/article/vw-reportedly-plans-to-cut-up-to-100-000-jobs-and-close-four-german-plants tags: ["volkswagen", "automakers", "germany", "job-cuts", "china"] --- # VW Reportedly Plans to Cut Up to 100,000 Jobs and Close Four German Plants Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has reportedly presented a restructuring plan that would eliminate as many as 100,000 jobs worldwide — roughly 15% of the group — and close four German plants, German and international media reported. It would be the deepest overhaul in VW's history; the plan has not been approved. Europe's biggest carmaker is reportedly preparing the most drastic restructuring in its history — a measure of how badly the ground has shifted under it. ## What's reported CEO Oliver Blume has presented VW's management board with a plan that could cut **up to 100,000 jobs** worldwide — about **15%** of the group's roughly 657,000 staff — and close **four German factories** (reported as Zwickau, Emden, Hanover and Audi's Neckarsulm site), [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-26/vw-eyes-cutting-100-000-jobs-and-closing-plants-report-says) and [Euronews reported](https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/06/26/100000-jobs-and-four-plants-volkswagen-reportedly-plans-radical-overhaul), citing German media. Crucially, this is a **reported internal proposal, not an approved plan** — VW declined to confirm specifics, saying only that "the relevant facts" would be "discussed and approved by the relevant bodies," with a supervisory-board presentation reportedly due around July 9. The figure roughly **doubles** an earlier target of about 50,000 cuts by 2030. ## The financial backdrop The plan follows a sharp deterioration in results. In the first quarter of 2026, VW's net profit fell about **28%** to €1.56 billion and revenue slipped ~2.5% to €75.7 billion, per the group's own figures. The deepest wound is **China**, once VW's most profitable market: deliveries there fell roughly **20%**, and its electric-vehicle sales in China reportedly collapsed by around two-thirds, as domestic rivals led by **BYD** seize the segments VW used to own. ## Why now Several pressures have converged. VW's China profit engine has stalled against cheaper, faster-moving local EV makers. Its electric-vehicle transition has been costly and, critics say, mistimed — heavy investment without the volumes to pay for it. German labor costs are among the world's highest, and VW's plants were built for demand that no longer exists, leaving expensive overcapacity. U.S. tariffs add a further reported multibillion-euro annual drag. The reported plan would also cut planned investment sharply (to just over €130 billion over five years) and even spin off the core VW brand and components unit — a radical break from its integrated structure. ## The fight ahead This will not be quiet. VW's works council and the **IG Metall** union vowed to resist, saying they would "do everything in our power to prevent" such measures. Job-security agreements protect the German workforce through **2030** (and Audi's to 2033), so cuts on this scale would require reopening those deals or grinding through Germany's codetermination and collective-bargaining machinery. A late-2024 restructuring deal had already targeted ~35,000 cuts by 2030; this would dwarf it. ## Why it matters Volkswagen is Germany's industrial bellwether — its plants, suppliers and subcontractors employ far more people than the group's direct payroll. A retrenchment of this size, if it happens, would ripple across the German economy and test the country's labor-protection model at a moment when its industrial base is already strained. The broader lesson for the auto sector is stark: even its largest incumbents are being forced into wrenching cuts by the twin shocks of China's EV surge and an expensive electric transition. For now it's a reported plan, not a decision — but that management even drafted it signals VW believes incremental fixes are no longer enough. We're reporting what's been reported and flagging what isn't confirmed. ## Sources - [VW eyes cutting 100,000 jobs and closing plants, report says](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-26/vw-eyes-cutting-100-000-jobs-and-closing-plants-report-says) - [Up to 100,000 jobs and four plants: Volkswagen reportedly plans radical overhaul](https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/06/26/100000-jobs-and-four-plants-volkswagen-reportedly-plans-radical-overhaul)