Volkswagen to slash 28,000 jobs in cost cutting plan
Volkswagen will cut 28,000 jobs by 2030, including 19,000 in Germany by year-end, as part of a €1 billion cost-saving plan to address falling sales and underutilized EV factories. The company faces intense competition from Chinese manufacturers like BYD and XPeng, which are eyeing Volkswagen’s idle German plants for expansion.
Volkswagen plans to eliminate 28,000 jobs by 2030, with 19,000 of those cuts occurring in Germany by the end of this year, as part of a €1 billion restructuring effort. CEO Oliver Blume will announce the plan at the company’s annual general meeting on June 18, citing falling sales, excess factory capacity, and slow demand for electric vehicles (EVs). The move follows years of financial strain from the Dieselgate scandal and billions spent on EV development, which has left factories operating well below capacity. Global sales for Volkswagen dropped from 6.3 million vehicles in 2019 to 4.7 million in 2025, while Australian sales plummeted from over 60,000 a decade ago to just 28,970 in 2025. The company’s EV transition has struggled to gain traction, with Chinese automakers like BYD and XPeng accelerating plans to build vehicles in Europe, including potential acquisitions of Volkswagen’s underused German plants, such as the Osnabrück facility set to close by 2027. Volkswagen is also cutting a third of board-level positions across its core brands by late 2026, as part of broader efforts to reduce costs and streamline operations. The company has indicated it may sell rather than shut down some factories to avoid further financial losses. The restructuring aims to address both declining demand for traditional vehicles and the slow uptake of EVs, while competing with aggressive expansion by Chinese manufacturers.
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