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German auto giant Volkswagen\u2019s management meets Thursday to thrash out plans for what could be the biggest-ever restructuring in the global auto industry, with unions set to protest any mass job cuts.<\/p>\n
Europe\u2019s largest carmaker has come under intense pressure from US tariffs, slimmer profit margins from electric cars, and above all, intense competition in China, the world\u2019s largest auto market.<\/p>\n
VW, whose 10 brands range from mass-market Seats to premium Porsches, is already in the process of axing 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030, including 35,000 at its namesake marque.<\/p>\n
The cuts at the Volkswagen brand are part of a deal reached with unions at the end of 2024, which also ruled out plant closures in Germany until at least the end of the decade.<\/p>\n
But CEO Oliver Blume is now eyeing cutting 100,000 jobs worldwide, as well as the closure of three German VW plants and an Audi factory, weekly Manager Magazin reported, citing company sources.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf these plans came to fruition, we would stop them with all our might\u201d, Christiane Benner, head of the powerful IG Metall union, said in a joint statement with VW works council chief Daniela Cavallo.<\/p>\n
IG Metall is organising protests by VW workers outside plants across the country Thursday, when the carmaker\u2019s bosses will present the restructuring plans to the supervisory board.<\/p>\n
Complex Ownership<\/p>\n
Ordinarily, the supervisory board\u2019s 20 members are split evenly between worker and shareholder representatives.<\/p>\n
However, the workers\u2019 side currently has a majority after Susanne Wiegand, former boss of defence group Renk, recently resigned.<\/p>\n
The 89-year-old group also has a complex ownership model that makes restructuring tricky, with Lower Saxony state \u2014 home to VW\u2019s Wolfsburg headquarters and six plants \u2014 holding a substantial stake that gives it the power to block decisions.<\/p>\n
No major announcement is expected immediately after the meeting, which is likely the start of a lengthy process of negotiation, several sources close to the matter told AFP.<\/p>\n
But if the plans are ultimately pushed through, then it would amount to a roughly 15-percent reduction in VW\u2019s global workforce of some 630,000.<\/p>\n
This would eclipse all other major job-cutting drives in the auto industry, notably Detroit-based General Motors\u2019s move to cut almost 50,000 jobs in 2009 as it declared bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
The whole German auto industry \u2014 including VW\u2019s peers BMW and Mercedes-Benz with their suppliers \u2014 has been struggling in recent years, with job cuts and overhauls increasingly common.<\/p>\n
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