Audi To Cut 7,500 Jobs in Germany

Volkswagen’s Audi luxury brand has announced plans to eliminate thousands of jobs over the next few years, marking another sign of trouble in Germany’s struggling auto industry, CNN journalist Anna Cooban reported.

Audi's layoffs add to the more than 35,000 job cuts already planned by parent company Volkswagen in Germany by the end of the decade. I Photo: Audi

The automaker recently said it would cut up to 7,500 jobs at its German facilities by 2029 as part of a cost-cutting initiative, agreed upon with employee representatives, to support Audi’s transition to electric vehicle (EV) production.

The move is expected to save the company €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in the medium term, while Audi plans to invest €8 billion ($8.8 billion) over the next five years to modernize its German plants for EV manufacturing.

Audi cited worsening economic conditions and mounting competitive and political pressures as key challenges. The job cuts represent approximately 8.6% of Audi’s global workforce, according to company data.

In addition to reducing its workforce, Audi has made efforts to streamline operations, stating that it has “significantly reduced” the number of internal committees in recent months and is working to ease employee workloads through digitization.

The layoffs add to the more than 35,000 job cuts already planned by parent company Volkswagen in Germany by the end of the decade. Volkswagen has warned of the need for an overhaul, citing increasing competition from Chinese EV manufacturers and slowing sales.

German automakers, having entered the EV market later than their Chinese counterparts, now find themselves trying to catch up with companies like BYD and Xpeng.