Volkswagen’s (VW) supervisory board backed a sweeping restructuring that calls for 50,000 additional job cuts, far fewer models and a smaller industrial footprint, giving chief executive Oliver Blume his clearest mandate yet to overhaul Europe’s biggest carmaker.
The measures approved on Thursday at a meeting in Wolfsburg double workforce reductions across Volkswagen Group brands since late 2024, while also paving the way for the company to slim its vehicle line-up by as much as half by 2035.
The new staff cuts represent about 8 per cent of VW’s global workforce as of the end of last year.
Management is pursuing the reductions in response to declining sales in China, high costs in Germany and underused factories. VW is also tightening investment, planning €135 billion of capital expenditure and research and development spending from 2027 through to 2031, about 16 per cent less than the investment round agreed on last year.
The spending reductions come as Chinese rivals led by BYD expand in Europe, adding to pressure to cut costs and direct investment toward its strongest businesses.
