Volkswagen Faces a Pivotal Week as Works Meetings Collide with a Boardroom Deadlock and 140,000 Job Warnings
Published on 07/17/2026 at 17:25 | Redaktion boerse-global.deVolkswagen is braced for one of the most confrontational rounds of employee assemblies in its history, with Chief Executive Oliver Blume scheduled to address workers in Wolfsburg, Zwickau and Emden on 25 and 26 August. The gatherings, nine in total across sites including Hannover, Braunschweig and Kassel-Baunatal, come as the carmaker’s cost-cutting drive has ignited an unusually public battle between management and labour. The works council has put the potential job losses at up to 140,000 — 50,000 positions already eliminated, a further 50,000 slated for 2030, and an additional 40,000 at risk from plant closures beyond that date. Blume himself has warned of up to 100,000 cuts overall, including the 50,000 already agreed, and points to a cost disadvantage of around 20% versus rivals and excess capacity of 500,000 vehicles in Europe alone.
The supervisory board’s rejection of management’s latest restructuring plan on 9 July has deepened the stalemate. The plan, which envisaged shedding more than 85,000 jobs and slashing production capacity to 9 million vehicles a year by 2030, was voted down by a 12-7 margin, with labour representatives and the state of Lower Saxony blocking the move. The boardroom split is also complicating the search for a new human resources director — a post that has been vacant since July 2025, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Erika Rasch of Bosch remains the preferred candidate, but a decision due on 16 July was derailed by the sparring over cost cuts, and worker representatives are demanding that the appointment be tied to filling the technology portfolio. Markenchef Thomas Schäfer is currently running the HR department on an interim basis.
Four German plants — Emden, Hannover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm — are seen as the most vulnerable, with a combined workforce of more than 45,000. Management has shelved outright closures for now but continues to discuss letting contracts wind down at those locations. One possible lifeline for Zwickau is a Chinese joint venture, an idea backed by Saxony’s economy minister Dirk Panter, who has proposed higher EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to make such a partnership more appealing for Volkswagen. The group is reportedly exploring whether to build Chinese models in its European factories as a way to bypass tariffs and keep capacity utilisation up.
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Meanwhile, a separate twist has emerged at Osnabrück, where the state of Lower Saxony is examining a plan to split the site into two entities — one for property, where Volkswagen would retain a stake, and an operating company involving the Israeli defence firm Rafael for the production of Iron Dome components. The proposal has met resistance from Qatar, a major Volkswagen shareholder, further delaying a decision.
Amid the restructuring turmoil, Volkswagen is rolling out a new electric model. The ID. Cross, an electric crossover built on the MEB+ platform, held its world premiere in Switzerland and went on pre-sale on 17 July. Prices start at CHF 27,600, climbing to CHF 37,800 for the top variant with 211 hp, a 52-kWh battery and a range of 427 kilometres. Market launch is scheduled for November 2026. The model is intended to inject fresh momentum into the brand’s EV line-up, but the question of whether it can offset the turmoil over tens of thousands of job cuts is likely to preoccupy investors for weeks to come.
The stock reflects the uncertainty. Volkswagen’s preference shares are trading at around €73.46, just 6% above the 52-week low of €69.20 registered in early July. They have lost more than 30% year to date and remain roughly 33% below the 52-week high of €109.10 hit in December 2025. A modest weekly gain of 3.21% offered little comfort as the broader German industrial sector continues to shed jobs — 177,000 factory positions have disappeared over the past twelve months, with the auto industry accounting for 52,000 of them, according to the Federal Employment Agency. For Volkswagen, the path out of the crisis will depend on whether Blume can secure a compromise before the September deadline that some board members have flagged for an extraordinary general meeting, should the deadlock persist.
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