Volkswagen to slash half its vehicle lineup and 50,000 jobs in cost-cutting effort

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Volkswagen Group announced late Thursday that it plans to eliminate 50,000 jobs and cut half of its vehicle offerings. The German automaker is struggling with headwinds from increasing Chinese competition in Europe and tariff costs on its shipments to the US market.

Volkswagen Group said it has also determined that its German factories have excess capacity of about 500,000 vehicles a year but did not identify specific job cuts or factory closings.

It sells Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini brands, in addition to Volkswagen and other offerings.

The automaker has been cutting staff and battling its powerful German unions for years. Its employment in Germany dropped from 275,000 in 2023 to 254,000 as of June 30, 2026, according to the company’s most recent financial report.

Volkwagen buyers, in addition to having fewer models to choose from, will also have far less ability to buy cars with the specific features they want. The company said it will cut “complexity” of the cars they build by 75%.

“The prioritized models aim to excel in design and technology – and benefit from the focus on fewer variants,” according to a statement from Volkwagen Group on Thursday. The change will result in “higher volumes per model, lower costs, stronger economies of scale.”

“Given international competition, the challenges facing Volkswagen and the German automotive industry are enormous,” Olaf Lies, the minister-president of Lower Saxony, said in a statement on Thursday. The German state is the second-largest shareholder of Volkswagen AG, Volkswagen Group’s parent company.

“We need a competitive framework and a trade policy that strengthens our industrial base in an increasingly fierce global competition,” Lies added.

Additionally, the company faces significant costs from US tariffs on imports. Tariffs could cost the company about $4.7 billion to $5.8 billion this year, according to a recent investor calls. While it builds 200,000 cars at US plants, it imports about 240,000 cars from Europe annually with a 15% tariff and 287,000 cars from Mexico with a 27.5% tariffs.

Like other automakers, VW had planned to make a major shift to electric vehicles. But with cutbacks in support of EVs by the Trump administration, it halted production of its electric EV for the US market, the ID.4, in April. It also faces challenges for its EV plans in Europe due to the growth of sales electric models from Chinese automakers there.

Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images

大众汽车集团周四晚间宣布，计划裁员5万人，并削减一半的车型。这家德国汽车制造商正面临来自欧洲日益激烈的中国市场竞争以及出口美国市场关税成本的双重压力。

大众汽车集团表示，他们也已确定其德国工厂每年有约 50 万辆汽车的过剩产能，但没有透露具体的裁员或工厂关闭计划。

除了大众汽车等其他品牌外，该公司还销售奥迪、保时捷和兰博基尼品牌汽车。

这家汽车制造商多年来一直在裁员，并与强大的德国工会进行斗争。根据该公司最新的财务报告，截至2026年6月30日，其在德国的员工人数已从2023年的27.5万人下降到25.4万人。

大众汽车的消费者不仅可选择的车型更少，而且购买具备特定功能的车辆的能力也将大大降低。该公司表示，将把汽车的“复杂度”降低75%。

大众汽车集团周四发表声明称：“优先发展的车型旨在设计和技术方面做到卓越，并受益于更少的车型版本。”这一变化将带来“更高的单款车型销量、更低的成本和更强的规模经济效益”。

“鉴于国际竞争，大众汽车和德国汽车工业面临的挑战巨大，”下萨克森州州长奥拉夫·利斯周四在一份声明中表示。德国下萨克森州是大众汽车集团母公司大众汽车股份公司的第二大股东。

“我们需要一个具有竞争力的框架和贸易政策，以加强我们在日益激烈的全球竞争中的工业基础，”利斯补充道。

此外，该公司还面临着美国进口关税带来的巨额成本。根据最近一次投资者电话会议，关税今年可能使该公司损失约47亿至58亿美元。该公司在美国工厂生产20万辆汽车，同时每年从欧洲进口约24万辆汽车（关税为15%），并从墨西哥进口约28.7万辆汽车（关税为27.5%）。

与其他汽车制造商一样，大众汽车原本计划大力转型电动汽车。但由于特朗普政府削减了对电动汽车的支持力度，该公司于4月份停止了面向美国市场的电动汽车ID.4的生产。此外，由于中国汽车制造商在欧洲的电动汽车销量增长，大众汽车在欧洲的电动汽车计划也面临挑战。