Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume seems convinced that the only way to save the automotive giant’s long-term future is to burn a significant portion of its domestic heritage to the ground. A leaked internal document cheekily titled “Group Target Picture” for 2030 has pulled back the curtain on a corporate restructuring plan far more radical than Wolfsburg ever cared to admit.
We are talking about a global execution of 100,000 jobs and the systematic decapitation of four major German manufacturing plants. According to the leaks, the EV havens of Zwickau and Emden are scheduled to stop breathing by 2031, followed by the commercial vehicle hub in Hannover in 2032, and Audi’s historic Neckarsulm facility by 2034.
Naturally, presenting this spreadsheet-driven apocalypse to the Supervisory Board did not exactly result in a standing ovation. Reports describe the recent meeting as a massive setback for Blume, who failed to secure a majority vote for his future strategy.
Instead of a smooth execution, Volkswagen is now staring down the barrel of a months-long internal civil war. Yet, in typical stubborn executive fashion, Blume remains undeterred. Insiders claim he is fully prepared to ram these cuts through in phases, even if it means declaring war against the Works Council, his own disgruntled employees, and the state of Lower Saxony. Meanwhile, the headstrong CEO completely ghosted a strict Friday deadline to address his furious workforce, prompting union leaders to plan high-pressure company assemblies just to drag him to the negotiating table.
When cornered by the press, Blume deployed the classic corporate defense mechanism: damage control mixed with vague optimism. He claimed there are “smarter solutions than closing plants,” boasting that German production costs were already slashed by an average of 20% last year. He dropped hints about bringing in external partners or repurposing the facilities, but conveniently left out the operational details.
The four targeted factories currently house 40,000 workers and a combined capacity of 750,000 vehicles annually. Ironically, Zwickau and Emden were supposed to be the crown jewels of Volkswagen’s electric future, pumping out the ID.3, ID.4, ID.7, Cupra Born, and the Audi Q4 e-tron. Instead, sluggish demand has already choked production there down to a single line just to handle overcapacity.
