Volkswagen plans to cut 15% of its workforce and close four German plants, report says

The LIDAR system (for autonomous driving) of a VW ID. BUZZ electric van being installed during a media day at the Volkswagen AG commercial vehicles plant in Hanover, Germany, on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Auto giant Volkswagen is planning to cut 100,000 jobs and end production at four German plants over the coming years, according to a report from Manager Magazin, in a move that would represent the most radical overhaul in the firm's 89-year history. The plan, reported on Friday, would see Europe's largest automobile manufacturer shed roughly 15% of its workforce as it seeks to counter intensifying competition from Chinese car brands. It would also see the Wolfsburg-headquartered company reduce planned investment in the company by about 15% to just over 130 billion euros ($148.2 billion) over the next five years and cease production at plants in Hanover, Zwickau, Emden, alongside Audi's Neckarsulm site. Volkswagen had already laid out plans to implement sweeping job cuts and launched a major product offensive as it seeks to boost profitability. The figures cited by Manager Magazin, however, represent a stark acceleration of those planned job cuts, given that around 50,000 jobs had been expected across the company in Germany by 2030. Volkswagen agreed a deal with unions in late 2024 to avoid factory closures in Germany and rule out compulsory redundancies until the end of 2030. …