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StocksMediumUpdated•Originally published 4 September 2026•Updated 4 September 2026•
2 min read

Volkswagen Board Approves Elimination of 50,000 Additional Jobs and 50% Model-Portfolio Cut by 2035

Key Facts

1The plan includes the elimination of approximately 50,000 additional positions across the group.
2Eliminating 50,000 positions equals approximately 7.7% of the 652,200 workforce, or about 8%.
3Volkswagen targets a 50% reduction in its model portfolio and a 75% decrease in offering complexity by 2035.
4European capacity exceeds demand by more than 500,000 vehicles, with 4 plants facing production-allocation uncertainty.

Volkswagen Group's Supervisory Board unanimously approved Future Plan 2030, which calls for the elimination of approximately 50,000 additional positions across the group, including management roles. The decision authorizes the Executive Board to begin implementation with the brands, subsidiaries and employee representatives.

The new reductions are in addition to existing programs and are not a restatement of the earlier figure. Since the end of 2024, the group has agreed to eliminate about 50,000 positions in Germany at Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and CARIAD by 2030. Of those, 35,000 are at Volkswagen AG, while binding agreements covering more than 28,000 departures by 2030 have been signed.

Volkswagen's global workforce totaled 652,200 at June 30, 2026. Eliminating an additional 50,000 positions equals approximately 7.7% of that total, explaining why the reduction is described as about 8% of the workforce.

The plan extends beyond headcount: Volkswagen aims to reduce its model portfolio by around 50% and decrease option and specification complexity by about 75% by 2035. The group also targets annual sales of 9 million vehicles and a 9% operating margin by 2030.

Volkswagen says its European production capacity exceeds demand by more than 500,000 vehicles. Competitive production allocation cannot currently be secured for 4 plants—Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Neckarsulm—on a staggered basis from 2031 to 2034, while alternative uses are being assessed. A sustainable and competitive plan for the European plants is due by the end of June 2027.

The financial results show the need to reduce costs. Revenue totaled €158.1 billion in the first half of 2026, while operating profit decreased 11.6% to €5.9 billion and the operating margin was 3.8%. The plan's success depends on converting lower complexity and excess capacity into measurable savings.

Germany's labor data require a distinction between seasonally adjusted and unadjusted readings. In August 2026, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held at 6.4%, while the number of unemployed increased by 4,000 to 2.996 million. On an unadjusted basis, the count increased by 54,000 to 3.061 million and the rate rose to 6.5%.

Implementation will begin immediately, with employee representatives involved wherever agreements are required, and the Supervisory Board will continue monitoring the process. The release did not allocate the 50,000 positions by brand, country or year; the key investor test will therefore be the emergence of measurable savings alongside production stability and progress toward the sales and margin targets.