Volkswagen is cutting 50,000 jobs, on top of 50,000 already agreed since end of 2024 — a total of one lakh by end of decade. Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover is cutting 4,000, largely white-collar, to save £1.7 billion. BMW cut 8,000 in July. The European auto industry is bleeding, and the wound is electric.
G.R. Rajeev explains: European carmakers have fallen behind Chinese manufacturers in the EV transition. Homegrown Nifty brands are blocking VW in lucrative Chinese market. VW, under CEO Oliver Blume, is reviewing worldwide operations, especially Germany.
VW’s story is unique because it is not a normal capitalist corporation. As top union rep Daniela Cavallo says, “Volkswagen also belongs to us, the employees.” Its Wolfsburg plant was built in 1930s from earnings seized from workers under Hitler. Workers hold 10 seats on supervisory board, including State of Lower Saxony. Restructuring its most eventful in 89-year history needed union approval. Agreement stopped short of closing four factories at Emden, Hanover, Zwickau, Neckarsulm, deemed to have no future after 2030 when ICE car production ends in Europe. Target production cut from 12 million pre-COVID to 9 million.
JLR’s cut is different — Tata Motors’ cash cow needs savings as EV race intensifies. The larger lesson: Europe mastered internal combustion, but China mastered batteries, software, supply chain. Chinese brands offer cheaper EVs with better tech. European legacy costs — high wages, strong unions, engine plants — become liabilities.
This is not just job cuts; it is deindustrialisation anxiety. When VW, symbol of German Wirtschaftswunder, says it is simply not a corporation that operates solely by capitalist rules, it admits social contract is breaking. The EV future may be built, but not necessarily in Wolfsburg or Solihull.