One of the potentially explosive aspects of the reported VW deal is the possibility of at least parts of the company becoming a separate entity. Experts say management may be seeking to create a corporate structure that would give it more freedom to determine the future of industries and jobs, without the constraints of government ownership or union representation. Under current the law In keeping with VW’s governance style, management would need a two-thirds majority of the management board to close one of its factories in western Germany.
“It will be very severe,” Helena Wisbert, a professor of automotive economics at the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, said of a possible rollback attempt. Wisbert said such a move would be very difficult to pull off — in large part because the current board of directors would have to approve the change. Still, he added, if such a move were indeed considered, “it would show how much pressure there is to cut costs right now.”
In an emailed statement to POLITICO sent on Friday, VW said it “will not comment on internal, confidential documents,” but added that “The entire Group – including its brands and subsidiaries – must undergo major changes. To this end, the Group’s Executive Board has been working hard over the past few months on a strategic plan for the company’s restructuring.”
VW’s woes became clear in 2024, when management announced plans to close three plants in Germany for the first time in the company’s 87-year history. But after a marathon talk at the end of that year – which the unions hailed as a “Christmas miracle” – factory closures prevented. Both sides agreed that 35,000 jobs will be cut by 2030.
But as the company’s outlook worsened, VW announced this March that it would increase its job cuts to 50,000 by 2030 – an announcement met with a mixed response. Now, plans to double that amount are facing fiercer opposition.
“As a government, we have clear expectations that VW management will put in place a suitable plan for the future,” Grant Hendrik Tonne, the SPD’s economy minister for the state of Lower Saxony, told POLITICO. “Closing plants is not a plan for the future and is therefore unacceptable.”
Romanus Otte contributed reporting.
