Audi is planning to cut as many as 7,500 jobs in Germany by the year 2029 as it tries to improve its falling profitability.
This will impact the company’s Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm plants primarily and the plan is to achieve medium-term savings of more than one billion euros annually, the automaker announced in a statement on Monday, March 17, 2025.
The layoffs are coming because, “the economic conditions are becoming increasingly tougher” and “competitive pressure and political uncertainties are presenting the company with immense challenges,” Audi wrote in its official statement.
This is at a time when US President Donald Trump’s tariffs are widely expected to hit European carmakers and also coincides with the financial pressures which Audi’s parent Volkswagen AG is currently facing, with CEO Oliver Blume pushing for cost cuts across the group.
Audi’s sales had also fallen about 12% last year with the brand struggled in markets such as that of China.
The job cuts also aim for a “reduction of bureaucracy” with the company claiming that it has already significantly reduced the number of guidelines and committees over the recent months.
It has flattened its management structure to three levels as a result and is looking at Artificial Intelligence (AI) options to replace jobs in “indirect areas.”
Audi has also extended its job protection plan till December 31, 2033.
Jörg Schlagbauer, Chairman of the General Works Council, the employee union, said that “the collectively agreed monthly wage is secured” and that “here will be no reduction in pay-scale wages and no elimination of internal benefits and supplements such as the Audi Component.”
“The current wage increases will also not be postponed,” he added. “They will take effect as planned on April 1, 2025 and April 1, 2026.”
Audi also claims the job cuts are to support a transition towards producing more electric vehicles (EV) at both the plants. Ingolstadt in particular will produce a new electric model in the entry-level segment.
The company plans to invest around eight billion euros at its home locations through 2029 as well and is setting up a “future fund” totaling 250 million euros for developing plants to support electric vehicle (EV) production.
The company says that it is also planning to reduce personnel costs by adjusting the payments “above the collective wage agreement and variable payments for pay-scale employees.”
Audi also said that it is adjusting the number of apprenticeships and dual study places to “company requirements” and added that a “stronger focus on presence in the workplace is intended to ensure close contact in times of increased communication needs,” hinting a return-to-office policy.