Volkswagen approves adjustment plan that eliminates 50,000 positions and puts four German plants at risk, without clarifying the future of Seat

The Supervisory Board of the Volkswagen Group has unanimously approved this Thursday the adjustment plan of the Board of Directors to transform the company and improve its efficiency and competitiveness, but without specifying whether or not it will affect the Spanish brand Seat. The so-called 2030 Future Plan of the corporation, to which brands such as VW, Audi, Porsche and Seat/Cupra belong, contemplates eliminating 50,000 jobs worldwide in the coming years. In addition, four plants are at risk in Germany: Emden, Zwickau, Hannover and Neckarsulm.

The company alleges that "there is an overcapacity of production of 500,000 vehicles in Europe" within the group. For this reason, the approved adjustment plan "creates the necessary conditions for Volkswagen and its brands to be more efficient, competitive and future-oriented," they say, without mentioning Seat.

"Given the increase in global competitive pressure, changes in demand structures and the technological transformation of the automobile industry, it is essential to consistently adapt personnel capabilities to economic reality," they say in the statement they made public this Thursday. In this sense, "the analysis on which the Future Plan 2030 is based contemplates a reduction of approximately 50,000 jobs, including management positions," announces the company, which specifies that "a competitive subsequent allocation cannot currently be guaranteed" for the four German plants mentioned, but that "alternative possibilities of use will be studied."

The automotive group points out that the Future Plan 2030 represents the most profound strategic transformation program in its history and recognizes that between now and 2035 it will lead to reducing its model portfolio practically in half and reducing the "complexity of its offer" by around 75%. "The selected models will stand out for their design and technology and will benefit from the concentration on a smaller number of variants: higher volumes per model, lower costs and greater economies of scale," the company notes in its statement.

European car crisis

Before the Council meeting, which was initially scheduled to be held this Friday, Seat sources have stressed that a decision has not yet been made on the future of the Spanish brand, after the German media Wirtschafts Woche reported that Volkswagen wants to withdraw it from the market in a few years, at the latest by the end of 2029. According to this information, "they would guarantee continued support for existing customers (for example, in terms of service)." Cupra, however, would remain, always according to this publication.

Volkswagen until now had limited itself to commenting that the entire sector, including Volkswagen Group and Seat, are going through "a profound transformation" driven by its commitment to electrification. The giant, like other European groups, is being hit hard by competition from Chinese brands, which have been gaining presence in the Old Continent, by the higher energy and production costs faced by plants such as the German ones compared to those of their Asian competitors, as well as by the tightening of environmental legislation.

Regarding the information published by the German magazine Wirtschafts Woche, the president of the Seat Works Committee, Matias Carnero, has assured Europa Press that the transformation process that Volkswagen is proposing to face the shift towards electrification of the sector and that would affect the Seat brand will not imply the closure of the company. Carnero has also stressed that it operates through two brands, Seat and Cupra, so if the models of the eponymous brand are not electrified until 2030, their manufacturing could be replaced by Cupra models.