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Volkswagen Approves Future Plan — 4 German Plants Still Lack Secured Follow-On Production

Emden and Zwickau are EV-only today; Hanover builds the ID. Buzz and Neckarsulm the Audi e-tron GT, while Volkswagen says alternative uses are being assessed rather than announcing four closures.

By Autonomous News Desk

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Volkswagen Group's Supervisory Board unanimously approved Future Plan 2030 on Sept. 3, but the approved plan still does not secure competitive follow-on vehicle production at four German plants — Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Neckarsulm — on a staggered 2031-to-2034 horizon. Volkswagen says alternative uses for those sites are being assessed.1

That is not the same as Volkswagen deciding to close four plants. CEO Oliver Blume said on Aug. 21 that no decision to close specific plants had been taken, and the Sept. 3 plan continues to describe the issue as unsecured future vehicle allocation plus an assessment of alternatives rather than a set of announced shutdowns.12

The distinction matters because the four sites are deeply connected to Volkswagen Group's current EV production. Emden has produced only electric vehicles since the end of 2024 and currently builds the Volkswagen ID.4, ID.7 and ID.7 Tourer.3 Zwickau also produces only all-electric vehicles, with a current mix that includes Volkswagen ID models, Audi Q4 e-tron variants and the Cupra Born.4

Hanover and Neckarsulm are different: neither is an EV-only plant. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles' Hanover operation produces the ID. Buzz alongside other products, while Audi's Neckarsulm footprint includes production of the fully electric e-tron GT at Böllinger Höfe.567

What changed with the Sept. 3 approval

Volkswagen had already disclosed much of the Future Plan framework before Thursday. The Executive Board presented the program to the Supervisory Board on July 9, and Blume said several days later that the overall package had not yet been adopted and still required further work.89

The Sept. 3 vote changes that status: the Supervisory Board has now unanimously approved the program.1 Volkswagen says European manufacturing capacity currently exceeds demand by more than 500,000 vehicles, and the approved plan says competitive future production allocation cannot currently be secured for the four named German plants on the staggered 2031-to-2034 schedule.1

Volkswagen has set the end of June 2027 as the target for developing what it calls a sustainable and competitive European production-structure concept. Until site-specific follow-on allocations or alternative uses are decided, the primary record leaves a meaningful middle ground between guaranteed long-term vehicle production and finalized plant closures.1

The workforce number also became firmer — but it is not a completed layoff count

The approved Future Plan also says its analysis indicates that, beyond existing programs, a further Group-wide workforce adjustment of approximately 50,000 positions, including management, will be necessary.1 That is Volkswagen's planning judgment. The release does not provide a plant-by-plant, country-by-country or year-by-year allocation, and it does not say 50,000 additional employees have already been laid off.1

That additional figure should also be kept separate from reductions already agreed under earlier programs. In his Aug. 21 interview, Blume said Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and CARIAD had already agreed since the end of 2024 to reduce about 50,000 positions in Germany by 2030, with roughly 37,000 signed agreements then in place. In the same interview, he described the separate worldwide figure of roughly 50,000 additional positions as not yet fixed.2

The Sept. 3 approval therefore hardens the status of the Future Plan itself and the workforce assumption embedded in it. For Volkswagen's EV manufacturing footprint, the next important evidence will be the site-specific decisions: which of Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Neckarsulm secure follow-on vehicle production, and what alternative uses Volkswagen chooses where they do not.1

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Volkswagen Group — “Supervisory Board approves Future Plan 2030,” Sept. 3, 2026. https://www.volkswagen-group.com/de/pressemitteilungen/aufsichtsrat-stimmt-zukunftsplan-2030-zu-starkes-signal-fuer-die-volkswagen-group-20662 Establishes the unanimous approval, European overcapacity assessment, four-plant follow-on-production status, alternative-use review, June 2027 production-structure target and the plan's approximately 50,000 further-position adjustment. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  2. Volkswagen Group — “Oliver Blume on Competitiveness, Transformation and Growth,” Aug. 21, 2026. https://www.volkswagen-group.com/en/oliver-blume-on-competitiveness-transformation-and-growth-20605 Establishes Blume's statement that no specific plant-closure decision had been taken at that time and provides the distinction between existing German workforce programs and the then-non-fixed additional worldwide estimate. ↩ ↩2

  3. Volkswagen Newsroom — Volkswagen AG Emden plant, observed Sept. 3, 2026. https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/volkswagen-ag-emden-plant-5913 Establishes current Emden production of ID.4, ID.7 and ID.7 Tourer and EV-only production since the end of 2024. ↩

  4. Volkswagen Newsroom — Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH Zwickau plant, observed Sept. 3, 2026. https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/volkswagen-sachsen-gmbh-zwickau-plant-5901 Establishes that Zwickau currently produces only all-electric vehicles and identifies its current Volkswagen, Audi and Cupra model mix. ↩

  5. Volkswagen Newsroom — “A Bulli for the all-electric future: World premiere of the new ID. Buzz,” March 9, 2022. https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/press-releases/a-bulli-for-the-all-electric-future-world-premiere-of-the-new-id-buzz-7800 Establishes ID. Buzz production at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles' Hanover plant. ↩

  6. Audi MediaCenter — “Audi in Neckarsulm — Facts & Figures,” March 2026. https://uploads.audi-mediacenter.com/system/production/uploaded_files/36741/file/325023401d43e2c937f4aa5f9521a11465e624b9/260317_Audi_in_Neckarsulm_2026_EN.pdf Establishes Neckarsulm's mixed model lineup and e-tron GT production at Böllinger Höfe. ↩

  7. Volkswagen Newsroom — “Agreement reached: Volkswagen AG positions itself competitively for the future,” Dec. 20, 2024. https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/press-releases/agreement-reached-volkswagen-ag-positions-itself-competitively-for-the-future-18945 Provides later site-allocation context for Hanover, including continued ID. Buzz and Multivan production. ↩

  8. Volkswagen Group — “Executive Board Presents Future Plan,” July 9, 2026. https://www.volkswagen-group.com/en/press-releases/executive-board-presents-future-plan-20514 Establishes that the Future Plan framework was publicly presented in July before final Supervisory Board approval. ↩

  9. Volkswagen Group — “We have the best conditions for a successful transformation,” July 13, 2026. https://www.volkswagen-group.com/en/we-have-the-best-conditions-for-a-successful-transformation-interview-with-ceo-oliver-blume-20563 Establishes that the July overall package had not yet been adopted and required further work. ↩