Inside Volkswagen’s brutal plan to save itself from Chinese EVs

by · Australian Financial Review

Aaron Kirchfeld, Sebastien Ash and Ivan Levingston
Updated Jun 30, 2026 – 12.10pm, first published at 12.00pm

Volkswagen chief executive Oliver Blume had less than 48 hours to celebrate the lucrative sale of the car maker’s €10 billion ($17 billion) marine engines division before the deal was overshadowed by his plans to axe up to 100,000 jobs.

The sale of a majority stake in Everllence and the scale of the cost-cutting plans revealed last week underline the urgency at Volkswagen as it fights fierce competition from insurgent Chinese brands and adapts to the shift to electric vehicles.

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