Union warns of 'conflict' as Volkswagen eyes mass job cuts

BERLIN

Employees of German car maker Volkswagen (VW) wave flags and display banners as they take part in a rally called by German trade union IG Metall to protest against restructuring and mass job cut plans at the VW plant in Zwickau, eastern Germany on July 9, 2026.(AFP)

Volkswagen (VW) workers staged protests nationwide on July 9 as unions warned of a "major conflict" if the struggling German car giant pushes ahead with what could be the global auto industry's biggest restructuring.

Europe's largest carmaker has come under intense pressure from U.S. tariffs, slimmer profit margins from electric cars and above all intense competition in China.

Thousands of job cuts have already been announced, but reports say CEO Oliver Blume is now weighing ramping these up to 100,000 as well as potentially closing four factories in Germany. As VW's bosses presented their planned overhaul to the 10-brand group's supervisory board, workers staged protests outside plants and unions warned they were ready to step up industrial action.

"Whoever takes on the workers is risking a major conflict," Thorsten Groeger, an official from union IG Metall, told reporters at VW's headquarters in the city of Wolfsburg.

"We will not stand by and do nothing if the company does not change course."

Volkswagen confirmed late on July 9 it had presented its plans to the supervisory board, consisting of a package of 12 measures.

These include reducing production capacity to nine million vehicles a year, from 10 million currently, and cutting the range of models it produces by up to 50 percent, VW said in a statement.