Volkswagen planning to cut up to 100,000 jobs globally

Two of the plants, in Zwickau and Emden, are used for electric car production. But along with other factories in Hanover and Neckarsulm, they are seen as expensive to run.VW's profits have fallen sharply in recent years. In 2023, it made an operating profit of €22.6bn ($25.8bn, £19.3bn). This dropped to €19.1bn in 2024, and then to just €8.9bn last year.The group has been badly hit by a fall in sales in China, once one of its most lucrative markets. In the first six months of the year they were down 26% compared to last year.In the US, sales fell more than 7%, in part due to the impact of tariffs on car imports introduced by the Trump administration.Meanwhile Chinese brands have been moving aggressively onto international markets, introducing new technologies while benefitting from lower production costs than European rivals.This has added to the pressure on established brands to keep their own costs under control, and slashed profit margins.In late 2024, after threats of mass strikes, VW reached an agreement with the German trade union IG Metall to cut 35,000 jobs at its namesake brand by 2030, in a "socially responsible manner", with another 15,000 jobs to go at its other brands.The plans now under discussion appear to go much further.