The car company Volkswagen has announced it will shed ۱۰۰,۰۰۰ jobs by the end of the decade after being hit by US tariffs and fierce competition from Chinese rivals.
The German manufacturer said management and unions had agreed as part of a sweeping cost-cutting plan to cut a further ۵۰,۰۰۰ positions by ۲۰۳۰, bringing total job losses in the pipeline to ۱۰۰,۰۰۰.
The number of car models the Volkswagen group produces, which includes the Bentley and Audi brands, will be slashed by half, while four production plants in Germany could also be shuttered within the next eight years.
“It is essential to systematically align workforce levels with economic realities,” Volkswagen group said in a statement.
The company said it had approved a plan that involved “the reduction of about ۵۰,۰۰۰ jobs”, on top of another ۵۰,۰۰۰ already agreed.
Volkswagen’s chief executive, Oliver Blume, was booed last month by staff during a tour of the company’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, northern Germany, as part of a company dialogue about the need to address its financial challenges.
At the time, Blume’s restructuring plans, which were rumoured to envisage increasing the reduction in headcount from ۵۰,۰۰۰ to ۱۰۰,۰۰۰, were yet to be approved by the VW group’s powerful supervisory board, which represents the labour force and shareholders.
But on Thursday, the company, Europe’s largest carmaker, said the board had signed-off on the proposals.
“The supervisory board has unanimously approved the executive board’s future plan presented today,” Blume said. “This is a strong signal for the future of the Volkswagen group.”
The total of ۱۰۰,۰۰۰ cuts will be the largest restructuring ever carried out in the global automotive industry, amounting to about ۱۵% of the carmaker’s employees.
Volkswagen employs more than ۶۵۰,۰۰۰ people across all its brands, which also includes Skoda, Seat, Porsche, Cupra and Lamborghini.
On Thursday, Volkswagen also said that management and unions agreed that the future of four German plants – in Hanover, Emden, Zwickau and Neckarsulm – could not be guaranteed into the ۲۰۳۰s.
VW has faced increasing pressure from rampant Chinese competition in Europe, decreasing sales in China and hefty US tariffs. Even before that, it was struggling for years with falling profits and overproduction in Europe.
The tough market in China has also hit other carmakers, with BMW cutting its profit guidance for this year because of the disruption caused by the Iran war and the company’s struggles in the Chinese market.
