{"id":519637,"date":"2026-06-26T14:49:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/519637\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T14:49:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:49:11","slug":"volkswagen-to-axe-up-to-100000-jobs-as-cost-cutting-drive-speeds-up-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/519637\/","title":{"rendered":"Volkswagen to axe up to 100,000 jobs as cost-cutting drive speeds up \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Volkswagen<\/a> plans to cut up to 100,000 jobs and end production at four plants in Germany<\/a> in a significant acceleration of its cost-cutting plans as Europe\u2019s largest carmaker<\/a> seeks to counter the rapid advance of Chinese<\/a> rivals.<\/p>\n

The cull would mean the removal of close to one in six of the company\u2019s roughly 625,000 roles worldwide, making it one of the biggest ever job-cutting programmes by a European company.<\/p>\n

The Wolfsburg-based group had already laid out plans to cut 50,000 jobs in Germany by the end of 2030 and has said it wants to reduce its car-manufacturing capacity in the country by 500,000 units.<\/p>\n

The latest plan, first reported by German outlet Manager Magazin, could lead the headcount to be slashed by another 50,000, according to one person familiar with the plan.<\/p>\n

Volkswagen (VW) is one of Germany\u2019s biggest private industrial employers and the new job cuts plan is likely to set off a new round of tough negotiations with unions. Previous job-cut targets have often been softened following negotiations with worker representatives.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Volkswagen blues: Carmaker struggles to build a business for an EV futureOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The restructuring measures come on the heels of the blockbuster sale of its marine engines unit Everllence to US private equity firm Bain, which will generate proceeds of \u20ac7.4 billion.<\/p>\n

Chief executive Oliver Blume has sought to streamline the sprawling group to focus on its core automotive business and is expected to sell more assets to raise cash as the carmaker comes under pressure.<\/p>\n

\"\"Has the Irish building sector got themselves hooked on Government subsidies?<\/p>\n

VW reached a landmark agreement with unions at the end of 2024 to cut jobs and capacity in Germany, but the auto manufacturer has said the impact of US tariffs, the conflict in the Middle East and a worsening situation in China necessitates more action.<\/p>\n

Under the previous plan, the carmaker closed a small production site in the east German city of Dresden. It has been seeking a buyer for its factory in Osnabr\u00fcck, where production is set to run out next year, and has held talks to the maker of Israel\u2019s Iron Dome missile defence system.<\/p>\n

The new proposals would see production end at another four plants: VW sites in Emden, Zwickau and Hanover, as well as an Audi factory in Neckarsulm.<\/p>\n

Blume has previously said that closing factories outright was not his preferred solution, and that he was seeking \u201cintelligent\u201d approaches, such as producing Volkswagen\u2019s Chinese models at the plants or handing them over to other carmakers or defence companies.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0EV sales set to overtake petrol as hybrids dominate new car marketOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

European car manufacturers have been hit by the rise of Chinese carmakers, which accounted for almost one in 10 new vehicles sold in the region in the first five months of the year, according to European car industry body Acea.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever has the risk situation been so high,\u201d Blume told shareholders at VW\u2019s annual meeting last week.<\/p>\n

The company had targeted saving \u20ac6 billion per year by 2030 through the restructurings and said costs remained \u201cthe area where we have the greatest need for action\u201d.<\/p>\n

VW declined to comment on the new plan, details of which are set to be presented to the company\u2019s supervisory board on July 9th.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe underlying matters are discussed and approved by the relevant governing bodies. We will not pre-empt this process,\u201d VW said.<\/p>\n

The reported details of the plan, which include a reorganisation that could limit employees\u2019 rights at the company, produced an angry response from workers\u2019 representatives. <\/p>\n

\u201cShould such plans be pursued, we would oppose them with all our might,\u201d said the head of VW\u2019s works council Daniella Cavallo, the president of union IG Metall Christiane Benner and Lower Saxony union boss Thorsten Groeger in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat really matters is something else entirely: instead of engaging in blind, knee-jerk reactions, the management board should finally do its job,\u201d they said. \u2013 Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Volkswagen plans to cut up to 100,000 jobs and end production at four plants in Germany in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,114,8856,292,61,60,18043],"class_list":["post-519637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-china","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-germany","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-volkswagen-vw"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}