Volkswagen Heads Into Board Showdown Over Reported Plant Closures

Volkswagen is heading into a decisive supervisory board meeting on July 9 following reports that Europe's largest carmaker is weighing the closure of four German factories and as many as 100,000 job cuts, which would amount to the most radical restructuring in its nearly 90-year history. The reported plan would roughly double the 50,000 reductions previously flagged and is said to touch plants at Hanover, Zwickau and Emden as well as the Audi site in Neckarsulm. The proposals face fierce resistance from the powerful IG Metall union and the works council, which have vowed to fight them, and from Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition government, which has stressed its commitment to preserving German manufacturing jobs. Management's room to manoeuvre is constrained by the state of Lower Saxony's roughly 20% voting stake and a decades-old law that limits the company's ability to shut plants. The pressure stems from a deep structural crisis: first-quarter profit fell sharply, US tariffs are adding billions in costs, and Volkswagen has lost ground in China to domestic rivals. The company declined to comment ahead of the meeting, saying decisions rest with its governing bodies, leaving workers, suppliers and investors awaiting the outcome.