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.
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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.
A spokesperson for the company declined to comment on “internal, confidential documents” when contacted by CNBC, saying decisions would be taken and approved by the relevant governing bodies, according to a Google translation.
“The entire Group—including its brands and subsidiaries—must undergo profound change,” the spokesperson said.
Shares of Volkswagen were last seen trading 0.2% lower on Friday. The stock price has fallen more than 25% year-to-date.
Volkswagen shares in the year-to-date.
Volkswagen’s General Works Council and German industrial union IG Metall pledged to push back against the reported job cuts and plant closures.
“If such plans were to be pushed forward, we would prevent them with all our might,” they said in a joint statement, according to a translation.
Volkswagen had a workforce of about 657,400 employees at the end of the first quarter of 2026, according to the company.
