Volkswagen Group plans closure of four German factories

The Volkswagen Group’s difficulties are far from new. A restructuring programme is already under way to tackle them, yet it is not enough. In recent months, further measures have emerged, including the loss of more than 50,000 jobs on top of the 50,000 already announced, as well as the closure of four factories in Germany.

According to a document seen by WirtschaftsWoche, Volkswagen Group management has unanimously approved the plan that will now be submitted to the supervisory board. The document also sets out the planned closure dates for the four German sites: Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Neckarsulm.

Volkswagen Group factory closure timetable

Vehicle production at Emden and Zwickau is expected to end in 2031. Hanover would follow in 2032, with Audi’s Neckarsulm plant closing last, in 2034.

Emden currently builds the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.7. Zwickau produces the Volkswagen ID.3, ID.4 and ID.5, the CUPRA Born and the Audi Q4 e-tron. Hanover is responsible for, among other models, the ID. Buzz, while Neckarsulm manufactures several Audi vehicles: the A5, A6, e-tron GT and A8, with A8 production ending this year.

The selected dates are striking. In December 2024, following weeks of talks and strikes, Volkswagen, the works council and the IG Metall union reached an agreement preventing operational redundancies until the end of 2030 and safeguarding the production sites concerned. The new timetable begins in the following year, with production at Emden and Zwickau scheduled to finish in 2031.

Around 40,000 people work across these four facilities. Under the plan, successor models to the vehicles currently made at these plants are expected to move to other European factories.

The Volkswagen Group did not comment on the document’s contents. Oliver Blume, the group’s chief executive, had already acknowledged that the company had yet to find a competitive role for these sites over the next decade.

The same document also envisages selling, or reducing stakes in, companies including Ducati, Traton, Gotion, QuantumScape and SGL Carbon.

Plan extends far beyond the factories

Closing these sites represents only one element of a far wider transformation. The Volkswagen Group also intends to significantly simplify its range, cutting the roughly 150 models currently offered across all its brands by half.

Further workforce reductions are also being considered. The German group has admitted that an additional 50,000 job cuts worldwide may be required, beyond the 50,000 reductions initially announced and agreed.

The severe cuts being planned stem from a problem that is relatively straightforward to identify. The manufacturer has capacity to produce far more cars than current demand warrants. Finding an answer, however, is proving considerably harder.

The main obstacle

The biggest barrier to delivering this plan remains within Volkswagen itself. Worker representatives hold half the seats on the supervisory board, while the state of Lower Saxony controls 20% of voting rights. Both opposed the restructuring plan presented in July.

The next clash between the various sides is due this week. The supervisory board will meet on 4 September and is expected to discuss the plan again, including the future of the four factories.

Should it again face a deadlock, management could seek to take some of these decisions directly to shareholders through an extraordinary general meeting.