Volkswagen planning to cut up to 100.000 jobs globally

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2wzpwn51lo

by cbg0 • 9 days ago

37 53 9 days ago

bbc.com

toomuchtodo2• 9 days ago

Weak that they’re not partnering with CATL or Panasonic to build stationary storage with excess manufacturing capacity.

verdverm• 9 days ago

They are switching some lines to building military vehicles aiui

alephnerd7• 9 days ago

switching some lines to building military

It got vetoed by Qatar (their SWF owns 17% of all voting shares in Volkswagen) because that would have meant working with Israeli companies [0] despite Germany being dependent on the Israeli Arrow system [1] to counter Russian systems.

Now that factory (Osnabrueck) is one of the factories on the chopping block.

And this is why Volkswagen is going to be a slow moving train crash - Lower Saxony, the Qatari royal family, the Pötsch/Porsche family, and IG Metall are not aligned.

[0] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-10/qatar-blo...

[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/germany-d...

alephnerd7• 9 days ago

CATL

Battery technology and chemistry is export controlled by China [0], which has hurt European attempts at doing what you mentioned [1].

Panasonic

They have chosen to concentrate on America instead [2]

[0] https://www.mayerbrown.com/en/insights/publications/2025/10/...

[1] https://merics.org/en/comment/chinese-restrictions-threaten-...

[2] https://www.reuters.com/technology/panasonic-localise-its-us...

toomuchtodo2• 9 days ago

CATL is building one of the largest battery manufacturing facilities in Europe in Spain.

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-catl-breaks-groun...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46061492 (“CATL's Spain plant will likely be one of Europe's largest LFP battery production hubs at ~50GWh of production capacity, employing ~4k workers with an investment of ~€4.1B.”)

shaism• 9 days ago

It is unfortunate for the employees but it is necessary, and hopefully also a wake up call for other German companies and the government.

It’s time for leaner structures, smaller teams, faster decisions, and shorter development cycles. Volkswagen, like no other company, symbolizes the lethargy of the German economy and business environment.

Hopefully, the seven years with barely any economic growth will end soon.

TacticalCoder• 9 days ago

Volkswagen, like no other company, symbolizes the lethargy of the German economy and business environment

A car development cycle is/was seven years in Germany. And that was totally fine. When the "Golf 7" comes up, the "Golf 8" doesn't come out only 2 years after.

What happened is the EU (and Germany in particular) left only two development cycles to the biggest industry in Germany (and hence the biggest industry in Europe) to entirely change.

For the EU said: "In 14 years you're forbidden to sell a single brand new ICE car in the EU" (of course they recently changed that tune, but too little, too late, the damage is done).

But that's not all: not happy to drown the german car industry, they decided that the corpse wasn't drowning quickly enough and Germany decided to shut down all their nuclear reactors (I think they recently reversed their stance on that too) and become depending on Russia as a major energy source (which the US warned Europe / Germany to not do).

Of course the shit hit the fan: Russia attacked Ukraine and everything turned to shit.

And now it's estimated German car makers pay their energy price 7x more than was chinese car makers pay their energy.

So, no, it's not all "the lethargy of German economy and business". Germany was (and to some extent still is) producing incredibly fine driving machines: not just VW but Audi, Porsche, BMW and Mercedes.

And those cars did what was asked of cars: drive very finely.

It's eurocrats/bureaucrats and german politicians who killed the german car industry.

P.S: I've got nothing against EVs... But don't be an ideological idiot about it: don't kill your main industry while handing the keys of the kingdown to China. The shift was way too quick. The EU should have been way more cautious and shouldn't have stupidly closed so many nuclear plants (to moreover start burning more coal again).

rjsw• 9 days ago

The EU didn't close any nuclear plants, that was just Germany.

mk894• 9 days ago

EU didn't close nuclear plants, not sure what you're talking about.

This is a choice some countries did in the past due to Chernobyl and Fukushima.

The "fatality" was performed successfully by the Greens.

lifestyleguru2• 9 days ago

Of course the shit hit the fan: Russia attacked Ukraine and everything turned to shit.

When Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014 absolutely nothing happened. Covid showed that Europe is eating boogers with their pants down, so both Trump and Putin decided to go on the rampage.

petre• 9 days ago

You drive your Audi, BMW, Porsche. Mercedes. I'm gonna drive a Toyota or a Honda since I don't like costly repairs, subscription chair heaters or getting screwed over.

throwaway2709252• 9 days ago

What happened is the EU (and Germany in particular) left only two development cycles to the biggest industry in Germany (and hence the biggest industry in Europe) to entirely change.

Thats of course complete BS, the change to EVs (and more economical ICEs and Hybrids in between) could be seen decades away! And VW knew it, they just chose to ignore it and continue down the easy (lazy) path.

There is nobody to blame other than VW management, the Piechs and Porsches in particular.

121789• 9 days ago

your misrepresentation of the timeline makes your comment meaningless. Germany has been winding down nuclear reactors for 20 years.

the only actual story here is that the market trend (both tesla in the US and all chinese EVs) pointed towards EVs being the future and German/Japanese brands have not been willing to give up their cash cows to EVs. The brand value will remain (e.g. germany MIGHT be ok), but the value and reliability differentiators will disappear.

wolvoleo3• 9 days ago

For Europe to meet its climate goals that was necessary. And BYD seems to have no issues shifting. Why should VW?

Though I do see another option emerging: people just not buying cars at all. More and more friends are relying on public transit alone. That's an even better option for the environment and climate of course.

For the economy it's not so good but it'll have to cope. If people don't buy cars it means they'll have lots more money to spend on other things anyway.

alephnerd7• 9 days ago

Audi, Porsche

Both are part of VW Group and have seen marketshare fall as well due to tariffs as well as China cutting down on foreign luxury brands in favor of domestic ones.

Barely 5 years ago a black Audi A8 was the go-to VIP car in China.

BMW and Mercedes (Daimler Grouo)

They will survive, but they also made sure to diversify beyond China and the US, which VW never did which is why they are so screwed.

I've got nothing against EVs... But don't be an ideological idiot about it: don't kill your main industry while handing the keys of the kingdown to China. The shift was way too quick...

Also

1. Don't have half of your production depend on the mercy of two SOEs (FAW and SAIC) who are trying to build indigenous competitors.

2. Diversify markets - America and China don't want to buy "Made in Europe" cars anymore. Mercedes and BMW made sure they were status symbols in multiple markets the same way VW's Audi and Porsche never could.

3. Don't let other countries have veto power within your largest conglomerates - Qatar has veto power and 17% of all voting shares in Volkswagen Group

notfromhere2• 8 days ago

None of that will address the fact that China is intentionally engaging in mercantilism and keeping the value of the yuan low to maintain export volumes. cutting 100k jobs will shave 1k off the production cost of a car, china has like a 6k advantage.

tangenter• 9 days ago

VW is a massive casualty, but the future of automotive is currently a cutthroat war between BYD and Tesla. Everyone else is, at best, a second tier competitor.

Auto industry/dealerships for trad cars is not looking good.

LarsDu88• 9 days ago

You're confusing Tesla for like 10 other Chinese brands. Tesla too is falling behind, particularly when it comes to price.

BYD may very well be pulling ahead on battery tech and vertical integration right now.

In a few years Tesla's primary moat will be political

onlypassingthru• 9 days ago

'BYD has pulled ahead on battery tech and vertical integration right now.' - FTFY

AlotOfReading• 9 days ago

I don't see how Tesla is a serious competitor in that matchup. Their sales have been declining for two years, and Chinese OEMs are clearly on the path to complete dominance in most foreign markets.

In the US market, I think Hyundai (and to a much lesser extent Kia) is probably the most interesting OEM. EV sales that aren't declining, the highest American-made percentage vehicles (relevant given recent policy changes), a manufacturing partnership with Waymo, widespread consumer awareness, and relatively lower prices than their competitors. It'd be nice if they provided a better repair situation than Tesla, but that's the current industry I guess.

the_real_cher• 9 days ago

2027 is going to change this sitnificantly.

Toyota is releasing a full EV highlander, Honda is releasing the 0 series, Kia has some new EVs coming out.

Next year is going to be a huge EV shift.

Tesla is screwed.

breve• 9 days ago

BYD sells EV and hybrid vehicles. Tesla only sells EVs, and BYD sells more EVs than Tesla.

In 2025 BYD sold 4.6 million vehicles. Tesla sold 1.66 million. That particular war is already over. Tesla lost it.

Toyota has been the best selling automaker for the last 6 years straight. In 2025 Toyota had record sales with 11.3 million vehicles sold: https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/toyota...

BYD was 6th: https://carnewschina.com/2026/02/26/three-chinese-automakers...

Tesla isn't in the top ten.

segfaultex• 9 days ago

BYD sure, but I have serious long-term doubts about teslas ability to capture any significant market share. They’ve dropped to their lowest level in the US since ~2017 and frankly their products are awful.

We just bought an EV last year and tried everyone. The teslas were the second worst in our opinion. The worst were the rivian products, just horrible UX, poor engineering, poor assembly, clear rent-seeking behavior, etc.

BMW, Ford, and GM make better vehicles and better EVs.

beAbU• 9 days ago

Tesla? You serious?

The same tesla tha cancelled the model 2, and subsequently they don't have anything to offer the affordable-urban-transporter market? The same tesla that's going all in on robotics and AI and somewhat forgetting about their car maker heritage?

You comment is very American centric. Kia and Hyundai is fucking smashing it in Europe at the moment, and the likes of Renault is coming out with seriously good and seriously competitive offers.

notfromhere2• 8 days ago

Tesla already lost that fight, which is why they're resorting to asking for import bans.

12958715• 9 days ago

People have no money for cars. Maybe boomers whose health insurance you subsidize and whose overpriced apartments you rent can still afford one.

Everyone else struggles with health insurance up more than 100% in 10 years, Döner up 100% in 6 years, electricity costs etc.

But we feel good about the "rules based international order", which only the EU follows right now, dictated by public servants with inflation-indexed pensions.

lifestyleguru2• 9 days ago

I don't think cars have ever been so unexciting. As long as regulations were improving security it was fine, but in recent years they only push for more control and surveillance. Still despite the byzantine regulations they failed to address e.g. the obnoxious blinding headlights.

Then yeah, rich boomers from rich EU countries are leaving scorched earth to everyone except their immediate family.

a34729t• 9 days ago

Americans and Chinese have money for cars. Europeans, less so.

throwaway2709252• 9 days ago

Americans dont have the money either, they just need that car anyway because there are no other options in most of the US.

wolvoleo3• 9 days ago

I'm really happy not having a car anymore though. It gives me a lot of freedom. When I had a car I had to think about when to get back to it because of parking fees. To get it fixed/maintained. To have to return to the place I left it (I often walk across town). I couldn't have a drink before going back home.

There were a few pluses like bringing big stuff and going outside of the city but I rarely do those things.

_s_a_m_• 9 days ago

A German economist explained on Insta that the main reason they are doing this is because Moody's making politics and reduced VWs rating, and VW is one of the largest credit holders in Europe and now they have been forced to act and do something about this unplanned rating change which will make loans expensive for them, without actually being a concrete automotive related issue in the first place.

alephnerd7• 9 days ago

because Moody's making politics and reduced VWs rating...
without actually being a concrete automotive related issue in the first place...

VW's market share in China (it's largest market) has collapsed - in 20 years it went from around 20% of all cars in China to 10% and current deliveries this year in China have fallen by 36%. This is a huge fall for a company whose Jetta was literally China's Model T.

VW Group has been dependent on China, much of Europe, and the US for almost 2 decades. It lost the American market in the 2010s when Diesel-gate pushed it's American ICP to Toyota, Nissan, and Tesla and it lost it's Chinese marketshare when China began the NEV policy back in the 2010s. And European car sales haven't recovered to pre-COVID amounts.

It isn't entirely an automotive issue, but it is very much a management issue. And nothing can be done about it - voting share is split between Lower Saxony, the Qatari royal family (17% voting share), the Porsche family, and IG Metall. Given the degree of state ownership in VW, it'll make GM's collapse look like a cakewalk.

jshier• 9 days ago

Wasn't the China collapse entirely predictable based on the rise of China's domestic auto industry? Why would anyone buy a Jetta when you can get a BYD?

robotnikman• 9 days ago

Chinese car brands are eating the lunch of all the European automakers. They will need to do something to reverse the tide before its too late.

pineaux• 9 days ago

They can just tariff the shit out of the Chinese cars. That will work great.

dieselgate• 9 days ago

For some perspective VW Group has around 680k employees per wikipedia [0].

Doubling the estimate from 50k to 100k is pretty wild, though I had read last week it was 100k on the tdi-club forum thread "What's left for Volkswagen?" [1]

[0] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Group [1] https://forums.tdiclub.com/index.php?threads/what%E2%80%99s-...

huntoa• 9 days ago

I think with the advent of cheap Chinese electric cars (new BYD for 7-9k€ in China) VW will die a slow death, slowed down by tariffs, tax-paid stimulation programs and bailouts from Germany. They can't compete on price or quality.

I hate that tax money is wasted for this garbage company. Germany and the ECB has been financing VW group by buying their bonds. VW group has hundreds of billions of debt. German Central Bank president recently said (translated): "[It is] currently in the midst of a restructuring process. However, I also see opportunities — for instance, in the defense industry."

Profit margin Volkswagen: 2.21% Profit Margin Toyota: 7.59%

When I compared ICE compact cars some years ago, the Audi A1 (Volkswagen Group) was the only German contender with respect to quality, repair costs, failure statistics, etc. But it lost out to a Toyota, because the Audi was more expensive.

Michael Burry's march BYD analysis was interesting. It said this (and much more): "BYD is potentially the lowest-cost producer of vehicles in the world thanks to its vertically integrated model at scale. BYD controls its supply chains and saves margin at every step. It makes its chips, batteries, bodies, motors, etc. [...] Factories are being built in Thailand, Brazil, Hungary, and Turkey. Europe put a 17% tariff on BYD cars [...]. Once local production is in gear, the tariff will disappear - a major future competitive advantage in Europe given BYD’s low cost advantage. [...] massive overseas spend [...] BYD has ~29% more revenue than Tesla and ~1/12th the market cap."

Volkswagen planning to cut up to 100.000 jobs globally

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