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 companys 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 C 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 Groups 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.
大众汽车集团周四晚宣布，计划裁员5万人并削减半数车型。这家德国汽车制造商正面临双重压力：欧洲市场中国竞争对手的崛起，以及对美出口的关税成本攀升。
大众汽车集团表示，已确定其德国工厂的年产能过剩约50万辆，但未具体说明裁员或工厂关闭计划。
除大众汽车及其他产品外，该公司还销售奥迪、保时捷和兰博基尼等品牌。
这家汽车制造商多年来一直在裁员，并与势力强大的德国工会进行斗争。根据该公司最新财务报告显示，其在德国的员工人数已从2023年的27.5万人降至2026年6月30日的25.4万人。
大众汽车的买家不仅可选车型减少，而且更难购买到具备心仪配置的车辆。该公司表示，将把所生产汽车的“复杂度”降低75%。
大众汽车集团周四在一份声明中表示：“优先发展的车型旨在在设计和技术方面表现出色，并受益于对更少变体的关注。”这一变化将带来“更高的单车产量、更低的成本以及更强的规模经济效应”。
下萨克森州州长奥拉夫·肖尔茨（Olaf Lies）周四在一份声明中表示，面对国际竞争，大众汽车和德国汽车工业面临的挑战十分巨大。该德国联邦州是大众集团母公司大众汽车股份公司的第二大股东。
利斯补充道：“我们需要一个竞争框架和贸易政策，以在全球竞争日益激烈的情况下加强我们的工业基础。”
此外，该公司还面临美国进口关税带来的巨额成本。根据近期投资者电话会议透露，今年关税可能导致该公司损失约47亿至58亿美元。虽然该公司在美国工厂生产20万辆汽车，但每年仍需从欧洲进口约24万辆汽车（关税税率为15%），并从墨西哥进口28.7万辆汽车（关税税率高达27.5%）。
与其他汽车制造商一样，大众汽车（VW）曾计划向电动汽车领域大规模转型。然而随着特朗普政府削减对电动汽车的支持政策，该公司于4月暂停了面向美国市场的电动车型ID.4的生产。同时，由于中国汽车制造商在欧洲市场的电动车型销量增长，大众的欧洲电动汽车计划也面临挑战。
