Volkswagen is considering shutting down four factories in Germany, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday, as it faces mounting pressure from Chinese rivals.The closures at Hanover, Zwickau, Emden and Audi’s Neckarsulm site would put more than 45,000 jobs at risk, on top of the 50,000 cuts agreed with unions in late 2024, according to the people.Here are details on the sites Volkswagen is considering shutting down.EmdenEmden is the first Volkswagen site in Lower Saxony, a region of 8-million people that is also Volkswagen’s second-largest shareholder. Founded in 1964 to take advantage of its nearby seaport, the plant initially specialised in producing the Volkswagen Beetle.Since the end of 2024, Emden has produced exclusively electric vehicles. (Focke Strangmann) Since the end of 2024, Emden has produced exclusively electric vehicles, manufacturing models of the Volkswagen ID. series.More than 7,700 employees work at the factory, which produced about 147,000 vehicles in 2025, compared with a population of about 50,000 in the city of Emden.HanoverThe factory employs about 14,000 people in Lower Saxony. It is where production of the Volkswagen “Bulli” began in 1956 and now produces the sixth and seventh-generation T-Series of the camper van, comprising vans and minivans, as well as the ID. Buzz electric van.The ID. Buzz is one of the vehicles produced at VW's Hanover plant. (Christian Ender) Apart from vehicles, the 1.1-million square metres are also used to make heat exchangers, while the foundry produces cylinder heads and inlet manifolds for the group.NeckarsulmThe Audi site in Neckarsulm employed 15,509 people in March. It produces combustion engines, hybrid technologies and fully electric vehicles, with variants of the A5, A6, A8 and e-tron GT models.Audi considers Neckarsulm the birthplace of the fully electric Audi e-tron GT and has headquarters for Audi Sport GmbH there. (Audi) Audi considers it the birthplace of the fully electric Audi e-tron GT and has headquarters for Audi Sport GmbH there.ZwickauFounded in 1990, the Zwickau plant has produced 7-million vehicles. In June 2020 the last internal combustion engine vehicle rolled off the production line as it shifted focus to electric vehicles.Founded in 1990, the Zwickau plant has produced seven million vehicles. (Jens Schlueter) The 8,000 employees produce models such as the Volkswagen ID., the Audi Q4 e-tron and the Seat Cupra Born. The bodies for the Bentley Bentayga and the Lamborghini Urus are also manufactured there.In 2025, 212,000 vehicles and the bodies of 10,800 cars came out of the plant.It is the first factory in the group completely converted to electric mobility, at a cost of €1.2bn (R22.57bn).Reuters