BERLIN, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Volkswagen plans to cut costs by 20% across all brands by the end of 2028, Manager Magazin reported on Monday.
The business magazine reported that CEO Oliver Blume and finance chief Arno Antlitz presented a “massive” savings plan at a closed-door meeting with the company’s top executives in Berlin in mid-January.
The group’s cost-cutting initiative is aimed at ensuring returns go back to a sustainable level amid a slump in China, U.S. tariffs and a competitive environment, the magazine said.
Volkswagen launched an operational programme across all brands and entities three years ago, and has since then achieved savings in the double‑digit billion‑euro range, a Volkswagen spokesperson said.
The programme has enabled the group to offset geopolitical headwinds such as U.S. tariffs, the spokesperson said.
Where exactly the savings are to be made and where cooperation between the brands is to be improved remained unclear at the meeting, Manager Magazin said, but plant closures could also be on the table.
The Volkswagen representative added that Blume will provide an interim update at the company’s annual results press conference on March 10.
(Reporting by Linda Pasquini, editing by Kirsti Knolle and Thomas Seythal)
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