Volkswagen’s New ID. Cross Hits the Market as a Boardroom Revolt Blocks Mass Job Cuts
Published on 07/17/2026 at 20:12 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
Volkswagen is navigating one of its most turbulent chapters in years, with a new electric crossover arriving in showrooms just as a bitter power struggle over restructuring has brought decision-making to a halt. The ID. Cross, a compact SUV on the MEB+ platform, went on pre-sale in Switzerland on 17 July starting at 27,600 Swiss francs, with first deliveries slated for November. The top variant, offering 211 hp and a 52-kWh battery good for 427 kilometres of WLTP range, carries a price tag of 37,800 francs. Yet the launch is unfolding against a backdrop of stalled negotiations, escalating warnings from management and open defiance from labour representatives.
The immediate flashpoint is a boardroom showdown that came to a head on 9 July. According to reports, chief executive Oliver Blume has warned that the group faces up to 100,000 job cuts in total — 50,000 already agreed upon in earlier talks, plus an additional 50,000. The supervisory board, however, rejected the management’s latest package, which according to WirtschaftsWoche envisaged eliminating more than 85,000 positions. The plan also proposed slashing production capacity to 9 million vehicles a year by 2030, halving the model lineup and cutting investment by 15 percent. Workers’ representatives, backed by the state of Lower Saxony, voted the proposals down. The works council chief, Daniela Cavallo, has accused management of treating the workforce with “unparalleled disrespect”, and IG Metall has vowed to resist.
The impasse has left four German factories especially exposed. Plants in Emden, Hannover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm, which together employ more than 45,000 people, are at risk of losing their production allocation. While the board has shelved outright closures for now, the option of letting contracts run out at those sites remains on the table. The situation in Zwickau has prompted the Saxon state secretary for economic affairs, Dirk Panter, to call for higher EU tariffs on Chinese vehicles, arguing that such a barrier could force Chinese manufacturers into joint ventures with Volkswagen and thereby safeguard local jobs.
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Adding another layer of complexity, the Osnabrück plant is being discussed as a potential site for manufacturing components of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system, with the state of Lower Saxony considering taking a stake in the facility. Under the proposed structure, the plant would be split into a property company, in which Volkswagen would retain an interest, and an operating company involving the defence contractor Rafael and a financial investor. Qatar, a major Volkswagen shareholder, has so far opposed the plan, further delaying a resolution. Should the board and labour fail to reach an agreement, management is reportedly weighing the option of calling an extraordinary general meeting in September to force through the restructuring.
The market’s reaction has been muted. Volkswagen’s preferred shares closed at €73.30 on Thursday, having gained 3.21 percent over the week but still trading roughly 33 percent below the 52-week high of €109.10 reached in December 2025. Year to date, the stock is down more than 30 percent. The underlying financials tell a similar story: revenue slipped from €324.7 billion to €321.9 billion in the latest annual results, while net profit plunged from €11.4 billion to €7.3 billion — a decline of more than a third.
Beyond the immediate restructuring drama, Volkswagen is also positioning itself in the broader competitive landscape through its five-percent stake in Chinese EV maker XPeng. XPeng recently chose Munich for the global debut of its new L03 SUV coupé, priced from €34,990 in Germany — undercutting the Tesla Model Y by around €3,400. The model is slated for launch in 64 markets this year and, like the ID. Cross, aims to capture volume in the heart of Europe’s EV market. For Volkswagen, the tie-up offers a hedge against the rise of Chinese competitors even as it fights to cut costs at home.
The coming weeks will be decisive. Labour’s ultimatum is still running, and the next major milestone is Volkswagen’s half-year report, due on 29 July at the Porsche AG level — a sister company that is itself cutting around 8,000 jobs amid a 16 percent drop in global deliveries. Whether the ID. Cross can generate enough operational momentum to shift the narrative remains to be seen. For now, the showdown between those who want to shrink the company and those who refuse to accept the scale of the cuts shows no sign of a truce.
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