VW Group Eyes Big Cost Cuts Across All Brands

[Source: Motor1]

It seems that the VW Group may need to make even deeper cuts than originally believed. According to a report by Motor1, VW Group is looking to cut costs by as much as 20 percent across all brands by 2028.

According to German business outlet Manager Magazin, senior Volkswagen Group executives gathered in Berlin last month for a high-level strategy meeting that could reshape the company’s future. During the session, CEO Oliver Blume and CFO Arno Antlitz reportedly outlined what was described as a “massive” cost-cutting initiative.

Savings Target

The goal? Slash expenditures by as much as 20 percent across all Volkswagen Group brands by the end of 2028. In a related report, Spiegel claims the automaker is targeting savings of roughly €60 billion (about $71 billion). That is an enormous figure, even for one of the world’s largest automotive conglomerates.

Exactly how VW plans to reach that number remains unclear. Cutting tens of billions of euros in just a few years would require aggressive action, and some reports suggest difficult decisions may be on the table.

One possibility, according to Manager Magazin, is additional factory closures. Executives in Wolfsburg are reportedly not ruling out further plant shutdowns following the end of vehicle production at the Dresden facility last December. Known as the “Transparent Factory,” the site once produced the flagship Phaeton before later assembling the electric ID.3. Its closure marked the first time in 88 years that Volkswagen shut down a German car plant.

If the reports prove accurate, the cost-cutting drive could signal one of the most significant restructuring efforts in VW Group’s modern history — with potential ripple effects across brands such as Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, and beyond.

VW Group’s push for deeper cost cuts is being driven by multiple pressures. Sales in China, once its largest market, have fallen sharply, dropping from 4.23 million vehicles in 2019 to 2.69 million last year, a decline of roughly 36 percent. U.S. tariffs and intensifying global competition are also squeezing margins.

While nothing has been officially confirmed, these challenges reportedly underpin the proposed savings plan. More details are expected on March 10 during the company’s annual results presentation. Meanwhile, VW’s global sales dipped 0.5 percent in 2025 to 8.98 million vehicles, trailing Toyota, which retained its title as the world’s top-selling automaker for the sixth straight year.