Volkswagen workers have sharply criticised the company’s management amid growing uncertainty over possible job cuts and the future of several German factories.
The chance to express their criticism and expectations of CEO Oliver Blume and the rest of the board via the company intranet led to ranking the communication as employees' number one grievance, even ahead of concerns about job security or possible factory closures.
According to the German Press Agency, employees and their families were left "uncertain and frightened."
The consultation was organised by Volkswagen’s works council ahead of a series of meetings between senior executives and employees.
CEO Oliver Blume and other board members are beginning a tour of Volkswagen sites for meetings with workers this week, and executives are expected to provide initial answers to the questions and responses to the criticism during these nine extraordinary works meetings, the first of which will take place on Tuesday, 25 August, in Wolfsburg.
It will be followed by others at followed by others at sites including Emden, Zwickau, Braunschweig and ending in Hannover on 31 August.
Volkswagen is seeking deeper cost cuts as the group struggles with fierce Chinese competition, weaker demand and US tariffs.
In a separate intranet post seen by AFP on Sunday, Blume said: "The situation is more than critical," adding that the firm was not making enough money to "ensure we have the means over the long term for new technologies, new products and our locations".
Volkswagen reported an 11.6% decline in its first-half operating result to €5.9bn, while its operating margin fell from 4.2% to 3.8%.
Volkswagen has already agreed to about 50,000 job cuts across brands, including its namesake as well as others like Audi and Porsche, but Europe's largest carmaker has since said cutting another 50,000 positions could be required.
Uncertainty also surrounds four German plants: Volkswagen sites in Emden and Zwickau, the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles factory in Hannover and Audi’s plant in Neckarsulm.
Volkswagen's supervisory board are discussing turnaround plans.
Blume said Sunday that Volkswagen and the rest of Germany's car industry are facing "the biggest upheaval in their history" from global headwinds and Chinese competition.
Other German carmakers have also warned about the country’s high production costs. Mercedes-Benz chief executive Ola Källenius said last month that costs at the company’s German operations were about 70% higher than at its plants in Hungary.
Reports about possible further job cuts at Volkswagen have angered unions, which have accused Volkswagen’s management of failing to communicate openly with employees.
Blume confirmed in July that the equivalent of up to 50,000 additional positions could be affected, but said the figure had been leaked to the media without his approval.
VW chief warns carmaker’s situation ‘more than critical’
AFP
August 23, 2026
Volkswagen’s bosses want to drastically cut production capacity and trim its range of models – Copyright AFP Blanca CRUZ
Volkswagen’s CEO warned Sunday the company was in a “more than critical” state ahead of meetings with the car giant’s staff where he will defend the company’s savings plans.
In an interview posted on the company’s intranet and sent to AFP, Oliver Blume said Volkswagen and the rest of Germany’s car industry are facing “the biggest upheaval in their history” from global headwinds and Chinese competition.
The carmaker is weighing up huge job cuts. In the coming days, Blume will meet with employees at Volkswagen’s headquarters in Wolfsburg and sites in Zwickau and Emden to give updates on the company’s plans.
In the interview, Blume said that no decision had been taken on plant closures but reiterated the company’s position that for plants in “Emden, Hannover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm we cannot currently see any way of them remaining profitable in the 2030s.”
He said that the company also had to deal with the over-production of 500,000 vehicles per year in Europe.
Closing factories would always be “the last and most expensive solution.” Blume said.
He added that at sites where car production may stop, Volkswagen was exploring other “industrial solutions”, pointing to advanced talks with companies from the defence industry over using its factory in Osnabrueck.
Blume described the situation facing the company as “more than critical” and said its current level of profits was not sufficient to “ensure we have the means over the long term for new technologies, new products and our locations.”
– US tariffs, Mideast war –
Alongside competition in and from China, Blume named US tariffs, the war in the Middle East and regulatory burdens as key challenges for the company.
Asked whether he expected the situation to improve, Blume said “on the contrary, we have to assume that risks will get worse, worldwide.”
In July, Blume presented saving plans to Volkswagen’s supervisory board but no decision was taken.
German media reported at the time that the Lower Saxony state government, a major shareholder in the Volkswagen Group which holds 20 percent of the voting rights, refused to sign off on the plans.
The group has already ordered 50,000 job cuts and Blume said that agreements have already been reached with 37,000 employees.
Blume appealed to employees to pull together for the sake of the auto giant.
“We will only be successful if everyone in the company supports this plan,” he said.
The head of the IG Metall union on Friday sharply criticised management and promised to resist the factory closures.
Volkswagen’s “workers have already to accept hefty and painful cuts and now are getting another slap in the face,” Christiane Benner told the Wirtschaftswoche weekly.
The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission jointly sued TikTok in 2024, alleging that it had placed the safety of millions of children in jeopardy by collecting their personal data without parental permission – Copyright AFP/File Yuichi YAMAZAKI