Jobs at the top axed

The Volkswagen Group has slashed a significant number of board-level positions and is shifting power to a centralised group management board.

The company’s “core brand group”, which includes its mass-market marques, is revamping its structure and introducing a governance model designed to generate savings in the billions of euros.

Production, purchasing and development functions across individual brands are being consolidated to eliminate overlap. 

By dismantling brand-specific organisations and reducing management layers, the core brand group of VW Passenger Cars, Skoda, Seat/Cupra and VW Commercial Vehicles aims to operate faster and more efficiently.

The overhaul will significantly reshape brand leadership. Of the 29 management board members currently in place, only 19 will remain. Each brand will in future be led by four board members – the CEO, and executives responsible for finance, sales and human resources. 

Nine former board positions covering production, purchasing and development will be reassigned below board level, and will be centralised in Wolfsburg, Germany. The new governance model has already been introduced in production.

The reorganisation is expected to result in savings of €1 billion (about NZ$2b) through to 2030 in production alone. This includes about €600 million in personnel costs and roughly €400m in manufacturing savings, such as from the increased use of shared vehicle platforms.

The new management model is in place with the restructuring set to be completed by July 1. VW is in the process of cutting 35,000 jobs in Germany by 2030 as it battles with an industrial slowdown, competition from China and tariffs.