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Reduction in workforce over the next four years comes admits ongoing sales losses both at home and in key exports markets, such as China.
Audi has announced a reduction in its workforce by 7 500 jobs over the next four years. Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
Audi said Monday it will cut 7 500 jobs by 2029 in Germany, citing “immense challenges” as the country’s auto industry battles slowing electric vehicle demand and rising Chinese competition.
The cuts, amounting to about eight percent of Audi’s global workforce, were aimed at boosting “productivity, speed and flexibility” at its factories in its home market, the manufacturer said.
“The economic conditions are becoming increasingly tougher, competitive pressure and political uncertainties are presenting the company with immense challenges,” Audi said in a statement.
It is the latest bad news from the ailing auto sector in Europe’s biggest economy, which has been hit hard by a stuttering shift to electric cars, fierce competition in key market China from local rivals and weak demand.
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Audi said the cuts would be in areas like administration and development and be carried out in a “socially responsible” manner, meaning there would be no compulsory redundancies.
The automaker employs about 88 000 people worldwide, including 55 000 in Germany.
The job cuts are part of a series of measures, which also includes slashing bureaucracy, that Audi said were aimed at saving it one billion euros a year.
The carmaker however also said it was planning to plough about eight billion euros into its two biggest sites, Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm in Germany, in part to help in the transition to electric vehicles.
This would include investments in producing another electric model in the entry-level segment as well in artificial intelligence.
Audi has been hit hard by slowing EV demand, and in February closed a plant in Belgium that employed about 3 000 people and manufactured high-end electric vehicles.
The carmaker’s deliveries of fully-electric vehicles slid eight percent year-on-year in 2024, to some 164 000.
Deliveries in the Chinese market, accounting for nearly 40% of the global total, slipped by about 11%.
Audi’s parent company Volkswagen announced in December it would cut 35 000 jobs at its namesake brand in Germany by 2030.
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