Volkswagen Group’s supervisory board unanimously approved Future Plan 2030, a package of 12 initiatives authorizing about 50,000 further job cuts worldwide through 2030 on top of roughly 50,000 reductions already agreed since 2024, for a combined total of up to 100,000 positions—about 15% of a global workforce of around 657,000. The vote followed the board’s rejection of an earlier version in July and two months of negotiations among Chief Executive Oliver Blume’s management team, union representatives and state shareholders. Volkswagen called the overhaul the most strategically profound transformation program in its 89-year history. The plan targets annual sales of 9 million vehicles and a 9% operating return on sales by 2030, cuts the model portfolio by about 50% and product complexity by about 75% by 2035, streamlines leadership toward a flatter hierarchy, and reviews alternative uses for four German plants lacking secured volumes from 2031 to 2034. The company cited global competition, technological shifts and tariff pressures, including 2.9 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in tariff expenses for 2025 after U.S. vehicle tariffs rose from 2.5% to 15%, alongside rivalry from Chinese makers such as BYD and Geely. Deutsche Bank analysts called the unanimous approval a fundamental breakthrough and better-than-feared outcome that could create a halo effect encouraging similar adjustments across the German auto industry. Shares topped the Stoxx 600 on Friday, rising about 5.4% shortly after the open and closing up 7.9% in Frankfurt after earlier gains of about 7%, though they remained down about 21% year to date.