VW’s ID.Buzz Misses Target by 75% as Carmaker Races to Cut 100,000 Jobs and Restructure Core Brand
Veröffentlicht: 27.06.2026 um 12:04 Uhr, Redaktion boerse-global.de
The Volkswagen Group is drastically deepening its cost-cutting drive after the electric ID.Buzz minivan sold only about 30,000 units instead of the 120,000 originally planned. That catastrophic performance is one of the triggers behind a new restructuring plan that would eliminate up to 100,000 positions worldwide — double the 50,000 job losses previously announced. The management board, led by CEO Oliver Blume, has already submitted the blueprint to the supervisory board ahead of a decisive meeting scheduled for July 9.
Under the proposal, four production sites are threatened with closure: Hannover, Zwickau, Emden, and the Audi plant in Neckarsulm. The company also intends to shrink its model lineup from roughly 150 variants to fewer than 100. On the management side, around 5,500 leadership roles are set to be axed. Together, the measures are expected to generate savings of €11 billion.
Volkswagen’s core brand and its components division are to be spun off and made legally independent. Industry observers view this move as a potential challenge to the Volkswagen Law, which grants the state of Lower Saxony special veto rights. The existing job guarantee formally runs until 2030, yet current plans would place 15 percent of the global workforce of roughly 657,000 employees at risk. Prior agreements already covered the elimination of 37,000 posts and 28,000 voluntary departures.
The works council and IG Metall union have announced they will fight plant closures and mass redundancies. Lower Saxony, which holds 20 percent of voting rights as a major shareholder, has also signalled its opposition. State Economy Minister Olaf Lies stated bluntly: “We will not support radical cuts of this kind.” Saxony’s premier, Michael Kretschmer, warned of “fatal consequences” for the industrial location if Zwickau is affected.
Management must now defend its case before the supervisory board on July 9, where the conflicting interests of unions, the state government, and the carmaker’s top executives are expected to collide. The outcome will determine whether Volkswagen embarks on the deepest restructuring in its recent history.
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