Volkswagen's management risks a "major conflict" with workers as the struggling German car giant thrashes out what could be the biggest ever restructuring in the global auto industry, a union warned on Thursday.
"We will not stand by and do nothing if the company does not change course," said IG Metall official Thorsten Groeger, as workers staged protests over the carmaker's reported plans to cut up to 100,000 jobs and close four factories.
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.
