Volkswagen’s Boardroom Split Widens as 100,000 Job Warnings Collide with a New EV Gamble

The German automaker is caught in a deepening tug-of-war between cost-cutting urgency and worker resistance, with the stock hovering near its 52-week low and a crucial earnings report due within days. Shares of Volkswagen changed hands at €73.28 on Friday, little moved after two days of gains, leaving the equity down roughly 30% since January. The latest price stands just 5% above the trough touched on July 1 and a full 33% below the December 2025 high of €109.10. That technical damage is underscored by the 200-day moving average of €93.33, which the stock has not seen from above in weeks.

The immediate flashpoint is a blocked board appointment. Erika Rasch, the head of human resources at Bosch and the preferred candidate to succeed Gunnar Kilian as Volkswagen’s personnel chief, failed to secure approval from the supervisory board’s worker representatives. According to multiple reports, the blockage had nothing to do with her qualifications — which are widely respected — but with a demand from the labor side: the simultaneous creation of a new technology board position. The company’s management was not ready to commit to that structural change, leaving the personnel seat unfilled. The deadlock underscores how deeply sparring over restructuring has poisoned boardroom relations.

CEO Oliver Blume has been warning internally that the group suffers a 20% cost disadvantage versus rivals, and the numbers he is floating are stark. Reuters reported that Blume sees a need to eliminate up to 100,000 positions in total — roughly 50,000 already agreed under existing efficiency programs plus another 50,000 on top of that. The supervisory board, including representatives from the state of Lower Saxony, voted down a formal cost-cutting plan on July 9 that would have removed more than 85,000 roles, slashed model count by half, and reduced annual production capacity to 9 million vehicles by 2030. Investment spending would also drop by 15%. The plan reportedly included the possible externalisation of the Volkswagen brand from the group.

Four German plants are now squarely in the crosshairs. Emden, Hannover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm together employ more than 45,000 workers. Management has paused direct closure talks after the board’s rejection, but the threat of running down orders at those sites remains on the table. In response, the works council has called extraordinary meetings in Wolfsburg, Emden and Zwickau for the end of August, demanding clarity on capacity adjustments and potential facility shutdowns. The union’s patience has worn thin after Blume let an earlier deadline for information sharing expire.

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The standoff is not restricted to the factory floor. Lower Saxony is exploring an intervention at a fifth site, Osnabrück, that would split the plant into a property company (in which Volkswagen would retain a stake) and an operating entity tied to Israeli defense contractor Rafael for Iron Dome component manufacturing. That plan faces opposition from Volkswagen’s Qatari shareholder, which has rejected the joint venture, creating another layer of complexity.

Amid the turmoil, Volkswagen is trying to generate a commercial bright spot. The ID. Cross, a compact electric crossover built on the MEB+ platform, made its global debut in Switzerland and opened for pre-orders on July 17. Pricing starts at 27,600 Swiss francs for the base variant, rising to CHF 37,800 for the top-spec model with a 211 hp motor, a 52 kWh battery and a range of 427 kilometres. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in November. Whether the new model can generate genuine operating momentum while the company negotiates the largest job cuts in its recent history remains the critical question for investors.

All eyes now turn to Friday, July 24, when Volkswagen reports second-quarter earnings. Analysts expect the numbers to confirm a difficult environment shaped by weak Chinese demand and high transformation costs. If the margins disappoint, pressure on Blume will intensify sharply. He would then have to push through deep cost reductions against the vehement opposition of the works council — without a permanent personnel chief to lead the corresponding labour and tariff negotiations. The conflict, which the blocked board appointment has only made more visible, could escalate to an extraordinary general meeting in September if no compromise emerges before then.