Volkswagen's plans to cut tens of thousands more jobs and close factories face a key test on Thursday as the groups controlling Europe's largest carmaker meet to discuss the proposals, while workers stage protests at plants across Germany.
Europe's biggest carmaker is under pressure from US tariffs, weaker profit margins on electric vehicles and, above all, fierce competition in China, the world's largest car market.
Volkswagen, whose 10 brands range from Seat to Porsche, is already cutting 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030, including 35,000 at its core Volkswagen brand.
Those cuts were agreed with unions at the end of 2024, alongside a pledge to avoid plant closures in Germany until at least the end of the decade.
But Chief Executive Oliver Blume is now considering cutting 100,000 jobs worldwide, around 16% of Volkswagen's global workforce, and closing three Volkswagen plants in Germany as well as one Audi factory, according to Manager Magazin, citing company sources.
