{"id":659465,"date":"2026-06-26T14:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/659465\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T14:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T14:41:11","slug":"vw-plans-to-cut-up-to-10000-jobs-and-shut-plants-report-says-volkswagen-vw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/659465\/","title":{"rendered":"VW plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs and shut plants, report says | Volkswagen (VW)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">Germany\u2019s Volkswagen is to cut up to 100,000 jobs and reduce and eventually stop production at some plants, according to reports.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The company has refused to comment on reports of a management presentation at a board meeting outlining dramatic cost cutting, but if it goes ahead it would mean Volkswagen doubling previously announced staff reductions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The carmaker employs more than 650,000 people across all its brands, which include Audi, Bentley, Skoda, Seat and Cupra, and has been hit hard by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2026\/apr\/27\/eu-faces-china-shock-as-ev-imports-drive-beijings-record-surplus-with-bloc\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">growing Chinese competition<\/a> and the struggle to shift to electric cars from combustion engines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">A spokesperson for Volkswagen said it would not \u201cpre-empt the process\u201d, a sensitive one involving staff and their unions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">However, they pointed to the already widely reported challenges to legacy brands facing competition from more nimble Chinese rivals that have made <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2025\/nov\/07\/china-in-push-to-dominate-europe-electric-vehicle-market-with-uk-as-gateway\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">huge inroads into Europe<\/a> with electric vehicles and more recently plug-in hybrid cars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cIt is correct that the entire automotive industry and the Volkswagen Group are undergoing a profound transformation. The executive board has repeatedly stated that our current business model no longer works across all brands: developing cars in Germany, producing them in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/europe-news\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Europe<\/a> and exporting them to the world. The world has fundamentally changed in recent years,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">According to Germany\u2019s Manager Magazin, the VW chief executive Oliver Blume\u2019s deepening overhaul will be discussed at a supervisory board meeting next month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">He has already announced a strategy aimed at cutting \u20ac11bn (\u00a39.49bn) from costs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">On Friday the spokesperson cited tariffs, competition and \u201cstagnating, sometimes declining\u201d markets that can create \u201cburdens on the company reaching tens of billions of euros per year\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The magazine said the proposals, which could be watered down, currently involve the closure of four German factories in the medium term.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">They include an Audi site in Neckarsulm as well as VW plants in Hanover, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2024\/nov\/03\/volkswagen-cuts-plan-sends-shock-through-the-detroit-of-east-germany\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zwickau<\/a> and Emden. The cuts are significantly deeper than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2024\/oct\/28\/volkswagen-shut-three-factories-cut-thousands-jobs-union\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">those announced in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">To survive the competition, the company has to adapt, and that \u201crequires a sharper focus\u201d on costs and investment, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<p><a data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" href=\"#EmailSignup-skip-link-13\" class=\"dcr-76akua\">skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | Every weekday<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-vf9hps\">Sign up to Business Today<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1r7my33\">Get set for the working day \u2013 we&#8217;ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/500.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"dcr-xiq31o\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"EmailSignup-skip-link-13\" tabindex=\"0\" aria-label=\"after newsletter promotion\" role=\"note\" class=\"dcr-76akua\">after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">\u201cThe entire group, including brands and subsidiaries, have to transform profoundly,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">The group has been making some headway against rivals in China itself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">In March, it reclaimed car sales dominance in China, the world\u2019s largest auto market, in the first two months of 2026, when Toyota also regained ground, both overtaking the local electric vehicle champion BYD amid fading subsidies for greener cars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">However, earlier this month BYD\u2019s boss said it aimed to become t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2026\/jun\/10\/china-byd-car-firm-ev-maker-toyota\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">he world\u2019s largest auto company<\/a>, wanting to take the crown long held by Toyota within five years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-1s160rg\">VW\u2019s Chinese joint ventures with FAW and SAIC held a combined 13.9% share of the country\u2019s passenger vehicle market in sales \u200bterms, followed by Geely\u2019s 13.8% and a combined 7.8% from Toyota\u2019s \u200bjoint venture with GAC and FAW, data from the China Passenger \u2060Car Association showed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Germany\u2019s Volkswagen is to cut up to 100,000 jobs and reduce and eventually stop production at some plants,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-659465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}