Job losses likely at VW as the people’s car brand becomes uncompetitive

Enlarge / The VW plant in Wolfsburg, Germany. (credit: Volkswagen)

The Volkswagen passenger car brand looks set to lay off workers, according to a report in Reuters. The news organization saw a post on VW’s intranet quoting CEO Thomas Schaffer, who blamed low productivity and high costs for the impending cuts.

“With many of our pre-existing structures, processes and high costs, we are no longer competitive as the Volkswagen brand,” Schaffer said at a staff meeting.

VW accounts for the highest volume among the different brands owned by VW Group but is much less profitable than either Audi or Porsche. In June, VW Group announced a $10.9 billion (10 billion euro) cost-cutting plan for the namesake brand.