Volkswagen’s board approved a sweeping cost-cutting plan put forward by CEO Oliver Blume that would cut around 50,000 jobs, reduce the model lineup by about half and end auto production at four German plants. Including 50,000 job losses previously agreed, total reductions would reach about 100,000 positions at the roughly 650,000-employee group. The plan is meant to counter low-cost competition in China and U.S. tariff headwinds and overcame resistance from employee representatives and the regional government stakeholder. Plants in Emden, Zwickau, Hannover and Neckarsulm will be phased out of vehicle production in 2031-34, with alternative uses to be explored. Chief employee representative Daniela Cavallo, who had criticized the proposal over the summer, called the approved plan a necessity for the company to move successfully into the next decade. Volkswagen reported a 30% drop in first-half after-tax earnings as China sales weakened. The steps build on the group’s Future Plan, which targets a 9% operating return on sales by 2030, or about €31 billion in operating profit, compared with a 3.8% margin in the first six months of 2026, alongside planned investment of €135 billion between 2027 and 2031.