Volkswagen to sack 50,000 workers as profit slides

Germany’s automotive giant Volkswagen has announced it would cut 50,000 jobs by 2030 as its profit slid to its lowest level in almost a decade.

The news comes as the 10-brand group seeks to weather stiff Chinese competition, especially in electric vehicles, United States tariffs and high costs.

“In total, around 50,000 jobs are due to be cut by 2030 across the Volkswagen Group in Germany,” Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said in a letter to shareholders in the firm’s annual report on Tuesday, March 10, 2026.

The group had already struck a deal with unions at the end of 2024 to cut 35,000 jobs by 2030 at its namesake brand as part of wider plans to save 15 billion euros a year.

Blume added that the additional cuts would come from premium brands Audi and Porsche as well as Volkswagen’s software subsidiary Cariad, according to AFP.

Before US President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on non-American carmakers last year, Volkswagen was facing the triple whammy of stagnant demand in Europe, the cost of investing in EVs despite patchy demand, and cratering sales in China.

Volkswagen, long the biggest player in the Chinese market, the world’s largest, is struggling with fierce competition from local rivals and sales there have slipped behind those of BYD and Geely.

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Blume told a press conference that Chinese carmakers eyeing up the European market to export their way out of a fierce price war at home would raise the pressure on Volkswagen.

He said: “We need to prepare ourselves for the fact that we will come under price pressure here.

“This is a big incentive for us to work intensively on the cost side.”

Volkswagen disclosed that its earnings after tax fell about 44 per cent in 2025, with US tariffs, Chinese competition, and a costly revamp of its sportscar-maker Porsche all hitting performance.

Earnings at 6.9 billion euros ($8 billion) were at their lowest since 2016, when the group took billions in one-off charges due to recalls and legal troubles over cheating on diesel emissions tests.

Warning that urgent action was needed to get the group back on track, Blume said the German car industry was going through a decisive break rather than a rough patch.

The Star