Volkswagen Group has set out a plan for the future targeting an operating return on sales of 8 to 10 percent by 2030, part of an ambition to become the world’s most attractive automaker. CEO Oliver Blume presented the strategy’s eight levers at the company’s virtual annual general meeting, framing the plan as a response to rising geopolitical tensions, intensifying competition and growing trade barriers. The Group enters the next phase as Europe’s market-leading seller of all-electric vehicles, with battery-electric deliveries up 32 percent worldwide in 2025.
Highlights
- 2030 financial ambition: an operating return on sales of 8 to 10 percent, with Automotive Division net cash flow set to account for more than 60 percent of the operating result.
- EV market leadership: all-electric deliveries rose 32 percent globally and 66 percent in Europe in 2025, lifting the Group to a 27 percent European BEV market share and five of the ten best-selling electric models.
- Cost target: more than €6 billion (about $6.9 billion) in annual net cost savings by 2030, after German factory costs fell more than 20 percent on average in 2025.
- Restructuring: 50,000 jobs to be cut across Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and CARIAD, including binding agreements for more than 28,000 departures at Volkswagen AG by 2030.
The Plan for the Future
Blume said the Group’s direction is fixed: “Our goal is clear: strengthen substance, invest with purpose and build lasting value, for our customers, shareholders and employees. The next few years are critical – and it is up to us.” The Group described the transformation not as a fixed-term project but as a permanent process, with the plan built for a volatile market and a scenario of stable delivery volumes.
Eight Strategic Levers
The plan centers on eight areas of action intended to lift competitiveness and free up room to invest:
- Reduce complexity: simplify the model and variant range to raise volumes per model.
- Streamline the technology toolkit: fewer platforms and electronic architectures to speed development and lower spending.
- Align production to market realities: further cut overcapacity toward a regional, economic production network.
- Strengthen regional growth: push more decision-making leeway to the most important markets.
- Streamline the investment portfolio: leaner structures and a sharper focus on core business.
- Increase operational excellence: bundle development, procurement, production, sales and quality assurance at CEO level and run efficiency programs across units.
- Strengthen performance culture: fewer hierarchies and a performance-based incentive system.
- Improve Group steering: leaner processes and clearer decision-making paths.
Electric Vehicle Leadership
In e-mobility, all-electric deliveries grew 32 percent worldwide in 2025 and 66 percent in Europe, where the Group held a 27 percent BEV market share and supplied five of the ten best-selling electric models. The company is extending battery-electric drive into the entry segment with the electric urban car family — the Volkswagen ID. Polo, Volkswagen ID. Cross, Cupra Raval and Škoda Epiq. Group brands launched more than 30 new models in 2025 and plan a further 20 this year.
Batteries, Software and Regional Architecture
Through its PowerCo subsidiary, the Group says it became the first European manufacturer to develop and produce battery cells at industrial scale, with German production ramping up ahead of plants in Spain and Canada. On software, the Group developed its own advanced electrical/electronic architecture with Xpeng and put it into production in China within 18 months, while the zonal architecture for Western Hemisphere markets, developed in the joint venture with Rivian, remains on schedule.
Cost Discipline and Restructuring
Structured performance programs across the brands delivered savings in the double-digit billion range, largely offsetting external financial headwinds. Collective bargaining agreements and workforce reductions generated sustainable cost effects of about €1 billion (about $1.15 billion) across the Group in 2025, and including agreed cuts to technical production capacity, the company targets more than €6 billion (about $6.9 billion) in annual net cost savings by 2030. Factory costs at German sites fell more than 20 percent on average in 2025 alone.
On jobs, 50,000 positions are to be cut at Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and the software unit CARIAD, 35,000 of them at Volkswagen AG, where binding agreements covering more than 28,000 departures by 2030 are already signed.
2030 Financial Ambition
The plan sets an operating return on sales of 8 to 10 percent by 2030, with net cash flow in the Automotive Division accounting for more than 60 percent of the operating result. The ambition comes after the Group’s operating result fell to €8.9 billion (about $10.2 billion) in 2025 from €19.1 billion (about $22.0 billion) in 2024, with deliveries flat at 9.0 million vehicles. Blume struck a measured note on the outlook: “The situation remains challenging. Nevertheless, it is up to us: with our strong brands and products, our clear strategy and a team that can deliver. Great opportunities lie ahead of us.”
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