Volkswagen is doubling the scale of its restructuring. Less than two weeks after its chief executive, Oliver Blume, outlined an initial programme affecting around 50,000 jobs, on Thursday 3 September, the group’s supervisory board approved its ‘Future Plan 2030’. This plan provides for a further reduction of around 50,000 jobs worldwide, including at management level. In total, the various programmes now affect some 100,000 jobs.

At the end of August, Volkswagen’s chief executive had already warned that the group needed to speed up its transformation. In the first half of 2026, its turnover had stagnated at €158.1bn, its operating profit had fallen by 11.6% to €5.9bn, and its net profit had plunged by 30.7% to €3.1bn. With an operating margin of 3.8%, Oliver Blume believed that Volkswagen was no longer earning enough to sustainably finance its technologies, products and factories.

The first phase of the social measures was already substantial. Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and Cariad had agreed, as early as the end of 2024, to cut around 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030, mainly through voluntary redundancies and early retirement. By the end of August, some 37,000 agreements had already been signed. The new plan goes further and provides for a further reduction of around 50,000 jobs worldwide.

European overcapacity

The reduction in workforce numbers is accompanied by a significant streamlining of the product range. Volkswagen has confirmed its intention to reduce its model portfolio by around 50% by 2035 and to cut the complexity of its range by 75%. The group now plans to sell nine million vehicles a year and is targeting an operating margin of 9% in 2030, representing an operating profit of around €31bn.

The manufacturer must also tackle its excess capacity in Europe, estimated at over 500,000 vehicles. The industrial future of the Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Neckarsulm sites beyond 2030 remains uncertain, and alternative uses must be explored. A new production plan for the European plants must be drawn up by the end of June 2027.

At the same time, Volkswagen plans to reduce its portfolio of shareholdings and business activities by around a third and anticipates €135bn in investment and research and development expenditure between 2027 and 2031. “Over the coming years, we will be investing a three-digit figure in the billions to make our iconic brands even more attractive, stronger and more competitive,” said Oliver Blume on Thursday 3 September.