German auto giant Volkswagen is planning to axe as many ‌as 100,000 jobs and shut down four factories in Germany amid increasing competition from Chinese carmakers.

Members of Volkswagen’s supervisory board have been briefed on the plans, which are scheduled to be discussed at a July 9 meeting, newswire Reuters reported.

The owner of Audi and Porsche brands is looking to shut down manufacturing plants at Hanover, Zwickau, Emden and Neckarsulm, putting more than 45,000 jobs at risk. These job cuts would be in addition to the 50,000 layoffs agreed with unions in late 2024.

Volkswagen Group's global workforce stood at 667,164 in 2025, with around 43% workers in Germany.

The reported layoffs come at a time when carmakers around the world are facing heat from Chinese players in emerging technologies such as electric vehicles.

To slash costs, the Volkswagen Group has been downsizing workforce to get to annual net cost savings of over 6 billion euros by 2030. The Group had announced 50,000 job cuts at Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and the software subsidiary CARIAD.

About 35,000 of these are jobs with Volkswagen, where binding agreements for more than 28,000 departures by 2030 have already been signed.

Earlier this year, Volkswagen unveiled a new strategic plan to address geopolitical tensions, intensifying competition, trade barriers, and slowing market growth. At Volkswagen AG's virtual Annual General Meeting, Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen Group, outlined the plan’s eight areas of action: reduce complexity, intensify the focus on technologies, reduce overcapacities, strengthen regional responsibility, streamline the investment portfolio, increase operational excellence, reward performance, and simplify Group steering. The company aims to free up resources for future investments, drive growth, and strengthen its financial resilience.

Volkswagen has set ambitious financial goals. The Group has set its sights on an operating return on sales of 8 to 10 percent and a much higher net cash flow in the Automotive Division, accounting for over 60% of the operating result by 2030. The foundation for this is strict cost discipline, higher efficiency and targeted investments in future technologies.

Published on: Jun 26, 2026 7:13 PM IST