You know, being a 'boss' is often a thankless and tedious job - just ask Ed since he hired David and me...well. Mostly David, but I will admit to causing the occasional bout of heartburn, though not at prima-donna levels.
Probably because I am a knuckledragger and not an academic.
But even faced with the combined power of the one-two Strom-Welborn punch, the stalwart Captain Morrissey of the Good Ship Hot Air steers serenely and steadily along, basically ignoring us. He's a veritable Zen Master.
The head of German car juggernaut Volkswagen has no such luxury. Oliver Blume took over the Volkswagen Group in 2022, after spending years in the company's other divisions. For example, he started as a planner for paint and body shop operations at Audi when he was 28, and then, from 2015 until this promotion, he had been the CEO of VW subsidiary Porsche. Obviously, a capable guy who grew up within the unique VW system.
That is both a good and bad thing, considering the harrowing times the company faces right now.
Three weeks ago I told you all how an internal memo had surfaced detailing the company's plans to do some drastic cutbacks - up to 100,000 layoffs, shuttering up to four plants, and going through their extensive business portfolio to see what they could offload for some upfront operating cash.
German labor unions went berserk - no surprise there.
Well, last Thursday, the turnaround plans were officially confirmed when Blume presented them to Volkswagen's supervisory board in Wolfsburg for approval.
The plans were just as quickly shot out of the water - 'torpedoed,' as Bloomberg describes it - and in doing so offered a kind of horrifying look into what is strangling Germany's former industry giant as it struggles to right its sinking ship.
Make sure you pay particular attention to that third paragraph concerning the make-up of the board that just told its CEO 'nein.' This would be a state of affairs inconceivable to an American.
Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume is facing an uphill battle to push through a fundamental overhaul of Europe’s biggest carmaker after failing to win initial backing from the supervisory board.
Blume’s deliberations, including additional job cuts, plant closures in Germany and possibly even a carve-out of the VW brand from the rest of the sprawling carmaker, was rejected by 12 of the 19 supervisory board members at a meeting Thursday in Wolfsburg, according to local media reports.
Without the support of labor representatives, who account for 10 of the board seats, and the state government of Lower Saxony as the company’s second-largest shareholder, the prospects for his far-reaching restructuring plan are uncertain.
Did you get that? Labor union representatives hold the majority of Volkswagen's board seats, and a state government is the second-largest shareholder, which routinely throws its two votes in with the labor unions' ten for a solid bargaining bloc against any plan management wants.
Good gravy goodness - how is anything supposed to get done?
Exactly what happened - nothing. When something desperately needs to.
And labor jumped all over the CEO and his team, demanding that the head man 'explain himself to the company's workforce.'
Like, wowsahs.
...Labor’s swift response was to heap more pressure on management. VW works council chairwoman and supervisory board member Daniela Cavallo issued an ultimatum that called on Blume to explain himself to the company’s workforce. Like other major corporations in Germany, VW runs on a system of co-determination with worker representatives that’s designed to foster long-term consensus.
Labor officials wrote to the company’s employees blaming management for stoking fear over job losses and demanding Blume and his team respond by Friday to more than 80 questions to explain their restructuring plan.
After he failed to comply, the works council distributed a special edition of its newspaper to the workforce on Saturday saying Blume will have to answer directly to staff at meetings to be held after the summer break.
The unions are having hissy fits and doing nothing to discuss saving the company. But the way the power structure works, it's as if they are living in a totally different business world where executives have to answer to their employees.
It's amazing.
...“He had certainly earned a great deal of initial goodwill from large sections of the workforce for this stance,” it added. “By now, however, virtually nothing of that remains.”
The combative comments mark a distinct shift in tone. Blume, a VW lifer with more than 30 years of service at the company, had largely been spared from the fierce attacks VW labor leaders launched against his predecessor Herbert Diess, the former BMW AG top executive who was ultimately ousted in 2022.
At VW, workers hold even more sway. The federal state of Lower Saxony owns a 20% stake and its two representatives on the supervisory board usually side with labor officials. This often makes it hard to push through investor interests when key stakeholders haggle over important decisions.
“There will undoubtedly be some who argue that this is all part of a well rehearsed dance between management and the workforce,” Bernstein analyst Stephen Reitman said in a note to clients. However, the renewed clash likely shares more ground with a previous attempt in 2024 to shut sites in Germany that got watered down, Reitman said.
This looks as if it, too, is being watered down, because, within a day, Blume crumpled on the plans to close factories like a cheap suit.
🚨VOLKSWAGEN CEO BACKS DOWN ON FACTORY CLOSURES AFTER BOARD REJECTS HIS PLAN 12 TO 19
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) July 12, 2026
Oliver Blume now says there are "smarter solutions" than shutting plants, days after reports leaked that VW was weighing up to 100,000 job cuts and four German factory closures.
VW's works… pic.twitter.com/MMBqQ2seJl
...VW's works council says there has been "a massive loss of trust" in Blume over the leaked plans.
"Our products are highly popular, we just aren't making enough money from them," per Bloomberg.
In the meantime, this same workforce doesn't seem to give a damn that the only thing the company can do without much controversy is slash the number of available models.
According to German news outlet Bild, the first wave of cars to be discontinued over at Volkswagen Auto Group includes the Volkswagen Jetta and Taos, Porsche Taycan, and Skoda Fabiahttps://t.co/w4hbExDIgm pic.twitter.com/a5jUzsY7eS
— Motor1 (@Motor1com) July 13, 2026
For right now, Blume is sticking to the labor reductions even as the company scales back models and production, none of which add up.
Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume outlined a plan to eliminate as many as 50,000 more jobs globally as he attempts a far-reaching overhaul to reduce costs at Europe’s biggest carmaker.
The German manufacturer’s overhead is higher than competitors’ by roughly one-fifth, Blume said in an interview published on VW’s intranet. Reaching parity implies a “theoretical deduction” of about 50,000 positions, on top of a similar amount that’s part of a cost-savings effort launched in 2024, he said.
“Group headcount has been growing for decades to a level that’s no longer viable today,” Blume said, according to the memo seen by Bloomberg News. “That’s because of changes in markets and negative effects outside of our control that weigh in the region of double-digit billion euro amounts.“
Labor stands by at its most truculent.
WE DIDN'T DO THIS.
...“Us workers didn’t cause this crisis,” Daniela Cavallo, head of VW’s powerful works council, said at a protest at the German company’s headquarter in Wolfsburg attended by several hundred employees. “Management must do its homework, politicians as well, while we’ve already stood ready to do our part.”
Well...yeah. You kind of didn't help it any.
Following today’s VW supervisory board meeting, the Management Board issued a Statement.
— Alex (@alex_avoigt) July 9, 2026
- Models cut by 50%
- Options cut by 75%
However, the Group itself has not yet commented on the specific details outside the above. "The precise contents of the future plan and the…
... "The precise contents of the future plan and the necessary measures associated with it are being discussed today between the supervisory board and the management board of Volkswagen AG," a spokesperson had said prior to the meeting.
The discussions involve, among other things, reducing complexity, streamlining shareholdings, and aligning development and production more regionally: "And yes, we will also have to cut excess capacity."
Following today’s VW Group supervisory board meeting where the management board presented its reorganization package, the company announced that, alongside a reduction of the VW model lineup by up to 50 percent, the number of available equipment options would be cut by up to 75 percent.
The Group’s management board presented a comprehensive package of measures comprising 12 initiatives and the "Vision 2030" strategy to the supervisory board during today's meeting, the company announced afterward.
"With our future plan, we are entering the next phase of transformation under our own steam," Group CEO Oliver Blume is quoted as saying in the statement.
The reaction from VW’s powerful works council was immediate:
"Enough is enough! The situation has reached a breaking point," said Cavallo, according to the works council’s newsletter. "The management board’s treatment of the workforce shows an unparalleled lack of respect. Oliver Blume now has a duty to at least contain this massive damage."
It's like beating your head against a wall.
This Xweet about Porsche sales has such a grim line in it:
Porsche sales plummet 16% in 1H26, BEV Sales in Q2 below 10k
— Alex (@alex_avoigt) July 9, 2026
In the first half of the year, Porsche AG delivered a total of only 122,306 vehicles to customers (down from 146,391 the previous year). This represents a 16 percent decline.
In China, 14,501 vehicles were delivered… pic.twitter.com/8Gy8q4j7dW
...In China, 14,501 vehicles were delivered to customers (down 32 percent). Deliveries fell by 14 percent in Europe (excluding Germany) and by 13 percent in North America.
With the exception of the 911, all models—including battery-electric vehicles (BEVs)—saw a drop in sales, with Q2 figures proving weaker than those of Q1.
BEV sales have declined for the fifth consecutive quarter, falling below 10,000 units in Q2. Thats a level Porsche was with BEV sales 5 years ago in Q1 2021.
Porsche is increasingly losing its reason for existence.
And all you hear from the unions is 'Me, me, me!!!'
Unsustainable.
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