Overview
- The plan, presented to the Supervisory Board on Thursday, would cut the group’s model range by up to 50%, reduce optional-equipment variants by as much as 75% and lower annual capacity toward about 9 million vehicles.
- Volkswagen says it would cut group investment roughly €44–50 billion through 2031 to improve returns after heavy spending on electrification that has so far delivered slow payback.
- Company figures released the same week showed weak second-quarter deliveries, with group shipments down about 8% and China deliveries plunging roughly a third, which company leaders cite as a main reason for the reset.
- Press reports estimate the measures could affect about 100,000 jobs and name four German plants as closure candidates, but the Supervisory Board has not approved final action and the plan now goes into negotiations with unions, works councils and governments.
- Unions immediately staged protests and vowed opposition while Spanish brands Seat and Cupra report no firm local decisions yet, leaving regional factories and supply chains facing months of uncertainty as talks proceed.