Volkswagen's Restructuring Plan Stalls as Labour Bloc Blocks Deeper Job Cuts

Volkswagen's most anticipated boardroom confrontation in years ended without agreement on deeper workforce cuts, after labour representatives on the supervisory board blocked management's sweeping restructuring proposal at the 9 July meeting in Wolfsburg. Chief executive Oliver Blume had reportedly sought approval to roughly double planned job reductions to as many as 100,000 across the group and to close four German plants, a plan that drew coordinated protests organised by the IG Metall union across roughly 20 sites. Employee representatives hold half the seats on Volkswagen's supervisory board, and the state of Lower Saxony holds around a 20% voting stake, giving both substantial power to resist closures. Rather than announcing job cuts, Volkswagen presented a strategy through to 2030 that does not require board sign-off: halving the number of models it offers, cutting vehicle variants by as much as 75%, and reducing annual production capacity to roughly 9 million vehicles from about 10 million today. The pressure is acute, with second-quarter global deliveries down 8.6% year on year and first-quarter net profit down 28%. Labour leader Daniela Cavallo warned of extraordinary worker meetings after the summer break.