Germany
Volkswagen Group is opening a new phase of cuts aimed at reducing how complex the business has become, keeping only models from its most attractive and profitable segments. The plan would trim the Group’s roughly 150 model lines across its eight core car brands by up to 50%, and cut the number of equipment options and trim variants by up to 75%.
Annual production capacity is set to come down to around 9 million cars, from a pre-pandemic target near 12 million. The Group has already removed about 2 million units of capacity, and built 8.8 million cars in 2025.
Several of the models on the way out are already familiar. Volkswagen’s own Touareg and Touran have ended production, and the T-Roc Cabriolet, the brand’s last convertible, is now confirmed to stop at the end of 2027 after two earlier delays. Audi has already dropped the A1, Q2, TT, R8 and Q8 e-tron. Porsche is winding down the 718 Boxster and Cayman alongside the combustion Macan.
Volkswagen Group officially confirms 50,000 already-agreed job cuts across Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and CARIAD by 2030, and is targeting more than 6 billion euros in annual cost savings by the same year. It has not commented on separate media reports, citing Manager Magazin, of up to 100,000 total job losses or on speculation about possible plant closures.
