While the Volkswagen Group was going through one of the most difficult economic processes in its history, it switched to a comprehensive austerity policy that will last until 2030.
According to the plan announced to shareholders by Group CEO Oliver Blume, 50 thousand employees will be laid off in the next four years.
PRODUCTION WILL DECLINE AND FACTORIES WILL CLOSE
Within the scope of these radical savings decisions, it is planned to completely close some factories and reduce the annual automobile production capacity to 9 million units.
The reason why the group urgently put this painful prescription into effect is the huge sales losses experienced by the brands around the world.
THE DECLINE IN SALES DEEPENED THE CRISIS
According to the announced first quarter data of 2026, Skoda was the only brand within the Volkswagen Group that increased its sales.
On the other hand, Porsche lost 14.7 percent, Lamborghini 11.7 percent, Bentley 9.9 percent and Volkswagen itself 7.6 percent.
THE BUSINESS MODEL WILL BE CHANGED URGENTLY
Arno Antlitz, one of the company executives, pointed out that Chinese competitors need to make more savings due to market pressure and new US customs duties.
Antlitz emphasized that they had to urgently improve costs and transform the business model without compromising product quality.
SOME MODELS MAY BE DISCONTINUED FROM PRODUCTION
The company has planned to discontinue some vehicle models in the coming years in order to prevent waste of resources in R&D processes and reduce costs.
With this new strategy, it is aimed to increase efficiency in factories by greatly reducing general expenses.
