Volkswagen Group Plans to Cut Around 4,100 Jobs at Porsche to Close €7 Billion Cost Gap

On September 19, Germany's Handelsblatt reported that Volkswagen Group is preparing to further expand Porsche’s workforce reduction. Documents obtained by the publication show that Volkswagen Group’s supervisory board recently approved a restructuring agreement proposing an additional cut of approximately 4,100 jobs at Porsche to close a cost gap of around €700 million (approximately RMB 5.39 billion). These job cuts will be implemented separately from existing agreements. In July 2026, Porsche management and labor representatives agreed on an additional reduction of 5,000 positions, adding to the previously confirmed 4,000, bringing the total number of agreed-upon layoffs to approximately 9,000. By 2035, this scale of layoffs will represent roughly one-fifth of Porsche’s total workforce. As the parent company, Volkswagen Group can only propose layoff recommendations to Porsche and does not have the authority to enforce them. On the 18th local time, Volkswagen Group lowered its full-year profit margin forecast from the previous range of 4.0%–5.5% to a maximum of 1%. The revised profit margin target is linked to asset impairments at Porsche.