Volkswagen, 30,000 redundancies? 'A nonsense'. But the government intervenes

Not 15 thousand as was leaked only a few days ago, but as many as 30 thousand. Just a few lines in an in-depth online article by Manager Magazin, a German publication of the Spiegel group specialising in news, analysis and insights into companies, markets and business leaders, were enough to spread terror among the approximately 130,000 employees of the Volkswagen brand, just over a third of all group employees in Germany. Manager Magazin wrote, in an article entitled 'The true extent of Vw's problems', that Volkswagen could cut up to 30,000 jobs in Germany. Practically a quarter of the workforce of the brand that gives the group its name. The cuts would also affect research and development. In fact, the figure is part of an indiscretion that attributes this statement to the CEO of Europe's leading car manufacturer, Oliver Blume. Several months ago Blume is reported to have said 'in a closed circle', according to Manager Magazin, that he believed the reduction of 30,000 jobs in Germany was realistic in the long term.

A 'baseless' figure and mere 'nonsense', the Volkswagen works council, the internal union body, called it. All this when there is less than a week to go before the start of negotiations between the company - which wants to put an end after 30 years to agreements on job security (contracts would be protected until 2029) - and workers' representatives. In recent weeks, management sources had revealed to Bloomberg an austerity plan that could include 15,000 redundancies (a figure not denied by the top management of Wolfsburg, the group's headquarters) but also the closure of some plants. In a recent speech, the cfo of the Volkswagen group, Arno Antlitz, had explained that 'there is a shortage of sales of about 500 thousand cars, equivalent to about two plants. The market is simply no longer there'. The same Antlitz, commenting on the first half-year accounts, with declining profits, had warned that investment expenditure for the period 2025-2029 will be reduced to around EUR 165 billion from EUR 180 billion in the period 2024-2028.

Such drastic decisions, unprecedented in Volkswagen's 87-year history, are due to the fact that the EUR 10 billion cost restructuring plan also planned by the brand's CEO, Thomas Schäfer - given the market conditions, with sales and profits falling sharply (sales -18.8% in August for the VW brand, -0.8% since the beginning of the year, share in Europe down to under 11%; the group has 26%) - is not enough. Top management has calculated that at least another EUR 5 billion is missing and that at this point, in a landscape of heavy overcapacity in German plants and high labour costs, VW will be able to become competitive again after a shock cure. In the first half-year profitability was still very disappointing, about one third of the targets set for 2026.

According to Economy MinisterRobert Habeck, the federal government and the state of Lower Saxony (which owns a fifth of the shares) are also considering supporting the ailing giant. 'The company is of fundamental importance for Germany,' said the minister on a visit to Papenburg. The federal and state governments are considering how to support the restructuring path. On Friday Habeck wants to visit the Vw factory in Emden.

Chinese premium manufacturer Nio the player would also be interested in taking over the Audi factory located in Brussels' Forest district. The indiscretion was spread by the Belgian newspaper De Tijd. The plant, which is at risk of closure due to low demand for electric cars, employs just under 3,000 workers and is technologically advanced, including in terms of sustainability criteria. Nio, like other Chinese manufacturers, is looking for production sites to avoid EU customs duties. The Shanghai-based company is present in Northern Europe, but intends to expand. The news was quickly debunked, however, by Nio's CEO himself. On the sidelines of a media event on the launch of the Onvo L60, William Li said that Nio could not buy the Audi plant because it does not have sufficient financial resources. According to CNEVpost, a portal specialising in Chinese electric brands, Li allegedly said: 'How can Nio afford a factory that Audi cannot afford? The rumours are unfounded'. For the manufacturer of the Four Rings, the search for an investor continues.