- Total job cuts have now grown to 100,000. - Model range will be cut in half to focus on popular/profitable vehicles. - VW will redouble its efforts in North America and China. The board of Volkswagen has just approved a long-term programme aimed at saving the company in the face of falling sales, high production costs, diminishing demand in China for high-profit brands like Audi and the increasing threat from Chinese makers in the European market. It's called Future Plan 2030. We are taking responsibility for our entire workforce, for our partners and for industrial jobs worldwide," says CEO Oliver Blume. "Over the coming years, we will invest a three-figure billion sum to make our iconic brands even more attractive, stronger and more competitive." The VW Group includes core brands such as Skoda, Seat, Cupra, Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti and motorcycle maker Ducati. It also has a heavy vehicle subsidiary (including MAN, Scania and International) and joint ventures in China. VW's financial woes have been very public since 2024 - a situation that has grown into a national crisis in Germany. Some political commentators are even linking the rise of far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) to dissatisfaction at the economic situation surrounding the VW crisis. On September 3, VW announced Supervisory Board approval of Future Plan 2030. While the tenor of the announcement is positive, focusing on investment and improved efficiency, the reality is also a further 50,000 job losses (on top of 50,000 announced earlier, totalling 1/6 of the company's total workforce), and closure of its Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Neckarsulm plants in Germany, a result of excess capacity of 500,000 cars in the European market. Alternative uses for these facilities are being sought. The company says Future Plan 30 is "the most extensive transformation