Volkswagen brand to slash administrative staff costs by a fifth

Volkswagen plans to slash administrative staff costs at its namesake brand by a fifth, management told staff on Wednesday, adding this would happen via partial and early retirement as opposed to layoffs. The target is part of Volkswagen's push to cut costs at the VW brand by 10 billion euros ($10.8 billion) by 2026, having previously warned that high costs and low productivity were making its passenger cars uncompetitive. Like other carmakers, Volkswagen has been hit by inflation, fierce competition from Asia as well as high labour and energy costs in Germany, requiring massive cost cuts to not fall further behind its rivals, including Tesla.