Porsche's supervisory board has approved a second round of job cuts totalling 5,000 positions at its Zuffenhausen and Weissach sites, according to multiple German media reports (A2, A3, A4). The cuts come on top of 3,900 previously announced redundancies, bringing total planned reductions at Porsche to nearly 9,000, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports (A2). In exchange, Porsche has extended its job guarantee to 2035, a concession that the FAZ notes is causing concern within the Volkswagen parent company because it may strengthen the hand of VW's own works council in parallel negotiations over plant closures and deeper cuts (A2).

The broader Volkswagen Group faces even more severe pressures. Chief Executive Oliver Blume has warned in an internal memo that the company is considering an additional 50,000 job reductions beyond an earlier commitment to cut 50,000 positions, and that plant closures after 2030 could affect another 40,000 workers, according to Viva.co.id, which cites the memo (A6). The same source reports that Volkswagen describes its cost burden as roughly 20 percent higher than competitors, a gap that the company attributes to the rapid shift toward electric vehicles and competition from Chinese manufacturers offering lower-priced models (A6). The NZZ adds that the state of Lower Saxony, which holds a 20.2 percent stake in VW, and allied unions are blocking management's plans to close four German plants, with the state premier calling plant closures "no future strategy for Volkswagen" (A1).

In a separate political move, Volkswagen has joined Stellantis and Mercedes in an open letter to Brussels calling for state aid to support production of clean technologies, L'Espresso reports (A5). The letter argues that European manufacturers face competitive threats not from within Europe but from China, where VW's sales have fallen from 4.3 million vehicles in 2019 to under 2 million today, and where its electric vehicle sales reached only 115,000 against a target of one million for 2025 (A5). The NZZ also notes that a plan to convert VW's Osnabrück plant to produce components for Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system has been vetoed by Qatar, VW's third-largest shareholder, which maintains ties to Hamas (A1).

The next factual step is a VW supervisory board meeting scheduled for 4 September in Wolfsburg, where the struggle over plant closures and job cuts is expected to continue, according to the FAZ (A2). Porsche's management is due to present the details of its restructuring package to employees on Monday, 27 July, Valor Econômico reports (A4). The state of the dossier remains fluid, with management, unions, and the state government of Lower Saxony still at odds over the scale and pace of the restructuring.