VW board reportedly plans to close four German plants

According to Manager Magazin, Volkswagen plans to cut up to 100,000 of its 657,000 jobs worldwide over the coming years. Previous reports had focused on around 50,000 job cuts in Germany. The business magazine claims the restructuring programme could also include the closure of the four plants mentioned above. It further reports that Volkswagen is considering spinning off the Volkswagen passenger car brand into a separate entity.

Manager Magazin says the plans are based on a strategy presentation that Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume reportedly presented to senior executives during the latest board meeting on Wednesday under the title “Group Target Picture” for 2030. The magazine states that it did not obtain the presentation itself but based its report on information provided by insiders familiar with its contents.

If implemented, the plans would effectively transform Volkswagen AG into a new company, according to Manager Magazin. The report claims the restructuring would eliminate around one-seventh of the group’s global workforce, open the company further to capital markets and significantly reduce employee influence.

However, the reported plans remain speculative, as the underlying strategy document has not been made public and remains an internal presentation. According to Manager Magazin, Blume is expected to present the restructuring programme to the supervisory board on 9 July. Any such plans would likely face strong opposition from Volkswagen’s influential works council.

According to Manager Magazin, Volkswagen had already identified its plants in Hanover, Zwickau and Emden, along with Audi’s factory in Neckarsulm, as candidates for closure during a supervisory board meeting in April because of their high costs. The magazine now reports that the board is prepared to phase out all four sites over the medium term by continuing production only for the current model generation. According to insiders cited by the publication, production would then end, with successor models either cancelled or transferred to lower-cost manufacturing locations.

The reported closures would have a significant impact. According to Manager Magazin, the four plants employ around 40,000 people and have a combined annual production capacity of approximately 750,000 vehicles. The magazine reports that production at the sites is not expected to end until after 2030, unless CEO Oliver Blume decides to discontinue the affected models earlier. However, such a move is not currently planned.

Two of the sites, Zwickau and Emden, are dedicated battery-electric vehicle production plants. Zwickau builds the VW ID.3, VW ID.4 and VW ID.5, as well as the Cupra Born and the Audi Q4 e-tron. Emden manufactures the VW ID.4, VW ID.7 and VW ID.7 Tourer. Volkswagen has already reduced production capacity at both plants from two assembly lines to one, each operating with two shifts, in response to overcapacity.

The Hanover plant serves as the headquarters of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and manufactures the all-electric ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo, alongside the T-series models, including the Multivan and Transporter. The site also operates a battery assembly line. The Audi plant in Neckarsulm primarily builds combustion-engine and hybrid models, while the nearby Böllinger Höfe facility produces the all-electric Audi e-tron GT. Audi previously closed its Brussels plant in February 2025.

According to Manager Magazin, the proposed restructuring rests on a third pillar alongside job cuts and plant closures: a fundamental overhaul of the group’s structure. The magazine reports that Volkswagen plans to spin off both the core Volkswagen passenger car brand and the group’s Components division into separate entities. According to the report, this would make the businesses easier to list on the capital market. Further details of the proposal have not yet emerged.

The reported plans would mark a significant escalation of Volkswagen Group’s existing restructuring programme. Under CEO Oliver Blume, the company has pursued a strict cost-cutting strategy over the past two years, targeting savings of 15 billion euros in 2024 and 18 billion euros in 2025. The programme is based on an agreement reached between group management and the works council at the end of 2024, which initially provided for around 35,000 job cuts by 2030. The planned reduction later increased to 50,000 positions across the group, mainly following additional cost-cutting measures announced at Audi, Porsche and the software subsidiary Cariad.

According to Manager Magazin, the planned measures are intended to deliver additional cost reductions. Citing an insider, the magazine reports that CEO Oliver Blume aims to reduce the group’s overhead costs by 11 billion euros by 2030. According to the report, this target alone would result in a five-figure number of job cuts, primarily in administration and development.

Signs that Volkswagen could further intensify its cost-cutting programme and reconsider key elements of its corporate structure had already emerged earlier this year. In April, Automobilwoche reported that members of the supervisory board had concluded during a strategy review that, despite the restructuring measures already under way, the group’s business model “is no longer future-proof.”

manager-magazin.de (in German)