VW CEO Blume: We Need to Cut Costs

VW CEO Oliver Blume emphasized to the workforce the need for further cost-cutting measures. “We must reduce complexity, consistently streamline our structures, and cut costs,” Blume said in his speech at the town hall meeting at the Wolfsburg plant. The meeting at the corporate headquarters kicked off a series of gatherings at several VW locations, during which the Executive Board will take questions from the workforce.

“Tariffs, new competitors, and geopolitical risks: The entire auto industry is under enormous pressure,” Blume said. The VW Group had “taken early countermeasures” and begun to realign the group and its brands. “Our market share is growing. But that’s not enough yet,” said Blume.

Since the announcement of further cost-cutting measures in recent months, Europe’s largest automaker has been grappling with the potential loss of tens of thousands of jobs and the closure of four plants. Following the meeting in Wolfsburg, eight more town hall meetings are planned in the coming days in Braunschweig, Emden, Zwickau, Chemnitz, Dresden, Kassel-Baunatal, Salzgitter, and Hanover.