Volkswagen Group

In July 2026, Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume proposed cutting up to 100,000 jobs globally, doubling a previously announced 50,000-job reduction target, citing a roughly 20% cost disadvantage versus competitors, tariff costs, and intensifying competition from Chinese automakers. An internal memo stated the company 'cannot confirm competitive use cases' for four German plants (Hanover, Zwickau, Emden, and Audi's Neckarsulm facility) in the 2030s. Labor representatives on VW's supervisory board blocked the proposals at a July 9, 2026 meeting, and IG Metall union head Christiane Benner vowed to 'stop them with all our might,' citing a late-2024 agreement to avoid German factory closures and compulsory redundancies through 2030. As of the announcement, the cuts remained proposals under negotiation rather than finalized decisions.

A misconfigured AWS cloud storage system operated by Cariad, Volkswagen's software subsidiary, left terabytes of vehicle telemetry from roughly 800,000 electric vehicles publicly accessible for months. Data included battery levels, ignition status and, for about 460,000 vehicles, GPS location accurate to within 10cm (VW/Seat) or 10km (Audi/Skoda), which could be cross-referenced with linked customer accounts to reveal names, addresses, phone numbers and detailed movement profiles. Germany's Chaos Computer Club discovered and reported the exposure; Cariad closed access the same day, in late December 2024.