RIP Volkswagen? The Downfall of a German Giant
Volkswagen Group, in its 90th year, faces an existential crisis as Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers rapidly erode its market dominance. CEO Oliver Blume warns that the company's workforce of over 650,000 is unsustainable, proposing pay cuts or up to 50,000 additional job losses on top of a previous cull. Factories producing 750,000 cars annually are threatened with closure, with some possibly converted for defense production. VW's sales in China have collapsed by over a third in the past three months. The company's works council has rejected Blume's restructuring plan, and staff unrest is growing. The crisis has sparked fears of deindustrialisation in Germany, as VW is deeply integrated with the country's small-to-medium industrial enterprise sector.
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