Overview
- More than 10,000 VW employees loudly protested at a Tuesday Betriebsversammlung in Wolfsburg, with the works council saying trust in CEO Oliver Blume is damaged and union leaders warning of fierce resistance.
- Blume has presented a sharpened restructuring that he calls the group's largest transformation, stressing a 'theoretical' figure of about 50,000 further role adjustments worldwide and saying roughly half of the need falls on Germany and half across ~170 group companies.
- In Emden and Zwickau this week Blume announced concrete operational measures including cutting about one quarter of management positions and reducing European plant capacity by roughly 500,000 cars per year.
- The works council, IG Metall and Lower Saxony are preparing alternative plans and oppose forced closures or large‑scale layoffs, and the VW supervisory board is set to reconvene on 4 September to decide which proposal to approve.
- Management frames the drive as a response to weaker margins in EVs, US tariffs and slower Chinese demand, while employees and the state shareholder stress using scale, model and brand measures to protect jobs and plants.