Volkswagen has earmarked restructuring costs of as much as €10bn ($11.59bn) through 2030 to finance a reduction of around 60,000 positions, according to a supervisory board resolution and documents reviewed by Der Spiegel.
Roughly half the cuts fall in Germany.
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The sum, tied to a restructuring programme cleared by the carmaker’s supervisory board, covers partial retirement arrangements, severance packages and social plans – but excludes any expense from shutting down factories.
According to the translated version of the report, should the four German sites currently at risk – Zwickau, Emden, Hanover and Audi’s Neckarsulm facility – be closed, “several billions” would be added on top, the documents show.
Vehicle output at these locations could cease sometime between 2031 and 2034.
Volkswagen’s board has pencilled in €1bn apiece for shuttering the Zwickau and Emden operations, and €2bn each for Hanover and Neckarsulm, the documents indicate.
Salary savings tied to more than 40,000 staff are projected to offset these outlays by early 2037.
Representatives for Volkswagen’s board of management, supervisory board, works council and the Lower Saxony state government all declined to discuss the resolution’s contents when contacted by Spiegel.
Chief executive Oliver Blume has warned that absent this overhaul, Volkswagen faced potential losses starting in 2030, alongside mounting debt-servicing costs and softening demand.
The initiative aims to lift the group’s return on sales to 9%, a benchmark Blume has committed to for investors.
The four Volkswagen plants under threat employ roughly five times the headcount of those two sites, per Spiegel.
Sources on the board told Spiegel the cost estimates hold up, noting any closures would likely unfold in stages – with output and staffing scaled back gradually rather than halted outright.
Volkswagen’s supervisory board also confirmed that the Osnabrück plant – which had previously been earmarked for closure – will be partially sold to Israeli financial investor Aurelius, with Lower Saxony also taking a stake in the site.
