BERLIN – Volkswagen chief executive officer Oliver Blume aims to cut up to 100,000 jobs from the current workforce worldwide over the next few years and discontinue production at four of the group’s German plants, German business publication Manager Magazin reported on June 26.
The magazine also said Blume intends to reduce investment by around 15 per cent to just over €130 billion (S$192 billion) over the next five years.
A Volkswagen spokesperson said the company would not comment on confidential documents. “The relevant facts of the matter will be discussed and approved by the relevant bodies. We will not pre-empt this process,” he said in an e-mailed statement.
“The entire group, including its brands and subsidiaries, must undergo far-reaching change,” the spokesperson said.
Manager Magazin, citing sources, said Blume and the group’s chief financial officer, Arno Antlitz, aim to completely restructure the company.
Volkswagen’s namesake core VW brand and the parts-manufacturing plants would be spun off from the current group structure and incorporated into separate entities, the report said.
Over the medium term, VW is planning to close its production facilities in Hanover, Zwickau and Emden, as well as a plant of sister brand Audi in Neckarsulm, all located in Germany, the magazine said. Production will be discontinued once the models currently manufactured there are phased out.
Blume previously has vowed to ramp up cost-cutting on top of 50,000 job cuts under way, with underused plants in Germany under the spotlight, despite a 2024 deal with unions guaranteeing no plant closures this decade.
Volkswagen, like its German and European peers, is under pressure from tariffs, Chinese competition and the costly shift to electric vehicles. REUTERS
