VW's Preferred Shares Slip to 74 Euros as Board Prepares to Weigh Factory Closures Affecting Up to 50,000 Jobs
Published on 09/02/2026 at 13:22 | Editorial boerse-global.de
The clock is ticking toward what could be Volkswagen's most consequential supervisory board meeting in years, with the company's preferred shares sliding to €74.00 on Wednesday — a 3.1 percent daily decline — as investors brace for a decision that will shape the automaker's footprint for the next decade.
The sell-off extends Tuesday's losses, when the stock closed at €76.40, and comes as fresh reporting from Wirtschaftswoche suggests the executive board has already reached unanimous agreement on a dramatic downsizing blueprint. Under that plan, production would wind down at Emden and Zwickau by 2031, Hannover by 2032, and Neckarsulm by 2034 — a timeline that, notably, could be executed without formal supervisory board approval.
A Workforce in the Crosshairs
The human toll of the proposed restructuring is staggering. More than 15,700 employees in Zwickau and Emden would be affected, alongside roughly 14,000 in Hannover and 15,500 in Neckarsulm. All told, up to 50,000 positions hang in the balance, with half of those cuts landing in Germany.
The rationale, according to CFO Arno Antlitz, is straightforward cost arithmetic. Production expenses per vehicle in Germany run to €6,490, compared with €2,832 at other European plants — a gap that has left the domestic network saddled with overcapacity exceeding 500,000 vehicles. Antlitz has also acknowledged that four German facilities currently lack a viable follow-on production plan once existing models reach the end of their life cycles in the early 2030s.
Successor models would migrate elsewhere under the proposed scheme: the ID.4's replacement heads to Mladá Boleslav, the Q4 e-tron successor to Bratislava, a transporter model to Poland, and another vehicle to Leipzig.
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The Political Minefield
CEO Oliver Blume has described the situation as "more than critical," arguing that the 20 percent savings already agreed upon fall short of what's needed. But his path forward is obstructed by formidable opposition. IG Metall has signaled resistance, while Lower Saxony's state government — a major shareholder with seats on the board — is pressing for a negotiated settlement.
Minister President Olaf Lies has urged swift agreement, warning that political and operational coordination is buckling under time pressure. The supervisory board convenes Friday to deliberate on a revised cost-cutting program dubbed "Zielbild 2030," though Reuters reports suggest the chances of tangible progress are slim. Auto expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer cautions against a radical slash-and-burn approach, noting that VW's powerful union presence and state ownership mean it cannot operate like a conventional listed company. He advocates instead for extending the weekly working week from 35 to 40 hours, which he calculates could reduce labour costs by more than 13 percent.
Management's parallel push to scrap the company's in-house collective wage agreement has drawn sharp criticism from the works council, which estimates that halving the house tariff would trim vehicle costs by only around 5 percent. IG Metall has called for a nationwide auto action day on September 21, with the industry's broader wage round following in October.
What Friday's Meeting Means for Investors
For shareholders, the central question is whether Friday produces a genuine consensus or a fudge. A broadly supported agreement that avoids outright closures while committing to clear savings trajectories and product guarantees for affected sites could lift the uncertainty weighing on the stock. The shares currently trade near their 50-day moving average of €73.98, well below the 200-day average — territory where a convincing breakthrough could trigger technical stabilization.
The bearish scenario is equally clear: postponement or a hollow compromise leaves the fate of the four plants unresolved, allowing the conflict between management, labour, and the state government to fester. Analyst sentiment has already turned cautious. DZ Bank cut its fair value for the preferred shares from €95 to €75 on August 27, maintaining a "Hold" rating, while Goldman Sachs trimmed its price target from €89 to €88 two days earlier, keeping a "Neutral" stance.
A Longer Road Ahead
Despite the gravity of the news, Tuesday's market reaction was relatively muted — a 1.3 percent decline — and the stock remains up 5.8 percent on the week, suggesting investors had already priced in the possibility of closures. The year-to-date picture is far grimmer: the shares are down 27 percent and sit roughly 30 percent below the 52-week high of €109.10 reached in December.
Adding to the complexity, Volkswagen has launched an investigation into the dismissal of 107 newly hired university graduates at a Chinese supplier, pledging to consider "appropriate steps" once the review concludes — a sideshow that underscores how many fronts the company is fighting on simultaneously.
Even after Friday's meeting, concrete decisions on plant closures may remain elusive. Observers anticipate that definitive answers on factory fates could take six to twelve months to materialize. Until then, the preferred shares will likely remain hostage to the ebb and flow of negotiations between a CEO pushing for radical cost cuts, a works council defending jobs, and a state government caught in the middle.
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