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Volkswagen profit plunges as carmaker weighs mass job cuts AFP July 24, 2026 Volkswagen has struggled with the shift to
electric vehicles – Copyright AFP/File Yuichi YAMAZAKI Volkswagen said Friday that its net profit plunged in the
second quarter as the crisis-hit carmaker, weighing up to 100,000 job cuts worldwide, grapples with increasing
competition in and from China. Net profit for the three months to the end of June came in at 1.54 billion euros ($1.75
billion), the 10-brand group said, a fall of 32.9 percent on the same period last year. Last year’s figure was
itself a decline of almost 37 percent on 2024. The result was hit by a 500-million-euro charge the carmaker booked for
stopping US production of its electric ID.4, Volkswagen said, as well as “negative mix effects”, meaning the
automotive giant sold more lower-margin products. The firm, which in addition to its own brand also includes the likes
of Lamborghini, Audi, Skoda and Porsche, also cut its guidance for the year and said it now saw sales flat or falling up
to three percent. It previously expected growth of up to three percent. The results pile pressure on the beleaguered
group, which has been suffering from slimmer margins from the sales of electric cars, US tariffs and above all intense
Chinese competition. “We must accelerate efforts to structurally lower our cost base and sustainably improve our
earnings quality,” Volkswagen finance chief Arno Antlitz said. “What matters now is swift and consistent
implementation.” – Overhaul – Like other German carmakers, Volkswagen has suffered from years of
declining sales in China, the world’s largest market, weighed by fierce competition from local rivals as well as
muted demand given China’s slow domestic economy. Volkswagen’s vehicle deliveries in the country were last
year already at their lowest level since 2011 and they fell a further 31.6 percent in the first six months of the year,
the firm said. Pressure to cut costs has intensified as Chinese brands have sought to export their way out of cut-throat
competition at home, threatening European carmakers on their home turf. Brands including BYD, Geely and Chery took
almost 11 percent of the European car market in May, according to automotive intelligence firm Dataforce, up from just
under three percent three years ago. Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume told staff earlier this month that four plants could
close and a further 50,000 jobs might have to go on top of the 50,000 departures that have already been agreed across
the group. If the restructuring went ahead, it would be the largest in the history of the automotive industry, eclipsing
the 50,000 job cuts General Motors made after it declared bankruptcy in 2009. Any overhaul is likely to be hard fought.
Labour representatives and the German state of Lower Saxony, who both take a dim view of plant closures, together hold
more than half the seats on the supervisory board. Lower Saxony is a shareholder in the Volkswagen Group and holds 20
percent of the voting rights in addition to hosting six Volkswagen plants. Talk in 2024 of possible plant closures
resulted in an agreement with unions that ruled out factories closing and compulsory redundancies until 2030 as part of
a deal that would see 35,000 jobs go at the Volkswagen brand in Germany by the end of the decade. What does this really
mean? Sign up for our weekly newsletter where we look at the technology stories reshaping how Canadian businesses
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unsubscribe at any time. Written by AFP With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world
as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our
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July 24, 2026 3:20 PM EDT Related News Volkswagen confirms weighing up to 50,000 more job cuts “As half of our
overheads stem from staff costs, a theoretical calculation — assuming no change in labour costs –- would result
in the loss of around 50,000 jobs.” By AFP July 13, 2026 Car crisis takes toll on Germany’s young engineers
Years of stagnant growth in Europe’s biggest economy and increasingly fierce Chinese competition are now taking
their toll on young engineers like Peil. By AFP July 12, 2026 Volkswagen sales slide further as carmaker weighs mass job
cuts Overall vehicle deliveries fell almost nine percent in the April-June period from a year earlier thanks to plunging
demand in China, VW said. By AFP July 10, 2026 Microsoft cuts 4,800 job as it revamps Xbox The cuts include the
deepest overhaul in Xbox’s history, with approximately 3,200 gaming jobs to be shed over the coming fiscal year,
four game studios being spun off or sold. By AFP July 6, 2026 German chemical company to cut 3,200 jobs as crisis
worsens German chemical company Evonik said Thursday that it would cut 3,200 jobs, or around 10 percent of its
workforce, by 2029 as a crisis battering the energy-intensive industry accelerates. Chemicals is one of the most
important sectors in Europe’s biggest… By AFP June 18, 2026 BMW downgrades 2026 targets on Mideast war,
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and worsening business in key market China, and vowed to step up cost-cutting efforts. It is the latest bad news from
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