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Volkswagen Averts Nuclear Option At The Last Second With A Plan To Cut 100,000 Jobs, Sell Ducati
The Autopian • • business
Key Points:
- Volkswagen’s board has unanimously approved CEO Oliver Blume’s major cost-cutting plan, including cutting approximately 47,000 jobs and selling Ducati, while delaying the closure of four plants and keeping the parts business intact to appease unions.
- The plan aims to reduce Volkswagen’s workforce by about 100,000 over five years, focusing cuts primarily on the core brand group, and is seen as a crucial step to improve profitability and streamline the company.
- Despite past struggles with software and electric vehicle rollouts, Volkswagen is attempting to regain competitiveness amid rising Chinese automakers and internal challenges, with leadership avoiding a potentially disruptive shareholder vote.
- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) continues to delay new vehicle safety rules and crash tests, causing criticism that the agency’s sluggishness hampers innovation and may contribute to preventable road deaths.
- A federal judge has temporarily blocked the EPA’s attempt to limit California’s authority to set its own emissions standards, preserving the state’s environmental waivers for now and preventing Congress from overturning them before recess.
