{"text":[[{"start":11.76,"text":"Volkswagen’s supervisory board has reached a surprise unanimous deal to back chief executive Oliver Blume’s sweeping overhaul that will see the German carmaker slash up to 50,000 jobs and could lead to plant closures."}],[{"start":25.84,"text":"The company told investors on Thursday evening that the restructuring would be “the most extensive transformation programme” in its history."}],[{"start":33.8,"text":"The announcement comes after Blume earlier this year outlined a plan that could result in the reduction of up to 100,000 jobs and the closure of as many as four plants in Germany. The 50,000 job cuts envisaged under Thursday’s plan would be in addition to 50,000 reductions since 2024, according to the company."}],[{"start":53.4,"text":"VW, which employs 652,000 people and is a titan of German industry, has been hit hard by the rising competition from Chinese carmakers, US tariffs and lacklustre sales in its European home market since the pandemic. The group’s vehicle sales fell 8.4 per cent in the first six months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, while operating profit declined by 11.6 per cent."}],[{"start":80.04,"text":"Only 24 hours earlier, prospects were grim that an agreement could be reached between the management, unions and the state of Lower Saxony, which had been locked in lengthy and acrimonious talks since Blume’s plan first surfaced in late June."}],[{"start":94.32,"text":"But VW’s supervisory board approved the plan late on Thursday, bringing forward a meeting that was originally scheduled for Friday following marathon talks to win over the support of unions and Lower Saxony — the state where the company is headquartered and the home to many of its factories. Lower Saxony is also a large minority shareholder in VW and can block important decisions."}],[{"start":118,"text":"The carmaker said that its supervisory board “acknowledges” that its “European capacity currently exceeds demand by more than 500,000 units.”"}],[{"start":127.52,"text":"Blume had said no new models would be allocated to the Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Neckarsulm plants unless costs could be brought down."}],[{"start":135.4,"text":"“In parallel and in addition, alternative uses for these plants are being assessed,” VW said."}],[{"start":140.16,"text":"It added on Thursday that “a further fundamental adjustment of the global workforce capacity” was “essential”, adding that “a group-wide workforce adjustment of approximately 50,000 positions — including management roles — will be necessary”."}],[{"start":155.24,"text":"In addition to the job cuts, another contested part of Blume’s restructuring plan was to spin off the VW brand and its components business into separate entities from the group."}],[{"start":165.16,"text":"Shareholders saw the proposal as a move to dilute Lower Saxony’s influence and overhaul a longstanding governance structure that was built on co-determination between unions and employers but which critics have said slowed decision making at the German group."}],[{"start":179.28,"text":"Germany’s metalworker union IG Metall said that the spin-off plan was “off the table”, adding that such a move would have weakened workers’ co-determination rights. “No plant has been abandoned”, IG Metall boss Christiane Benner and Volkswagen workers’ council head Daniela Cavallo said in a joint statement."}],[{"start":197.32,"text":"Olaf Lies, Minister President of Lower Saxony, added: “Given international competition, the challenges facing Volkswagen and the German automotive industry are enormous. It is all the more important that we now take a shared path toward the necessary transformation.”"}],[{"start":213.4,"text":"But a person close to VW said the spin-off proposal was still being discussed, raising questions about what the final shape of the restructuring plan was going to be."}],[{"start":222.52,"text":"Tom Narayan, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, described the unanimous board and union approval as “a positive surprise” but called for execution of the plan to make the group slimmer and nimbler. “We think the decision is an important step towards making VW more cost-competitive with Chinese original equipment makers aggressively expanding in Europe,” he said."}],[{"start":244.52,"text":"VW said it was seeking to lift its operating margin to 9 per cent by 2030, up from just 3.8 per cent in the first half of this year. It will axe one in two models over the coming nine years in an attempt to reduce complexity and lower unit costs of the remaining models owing to higher economies of scale."}],[{"start":267.26,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1788484997_8657.mp3"}