Volkswagen makes drastic cuts in the range of cars and options

Simplification of the range. This is the slogan in the Volkswagen Group, in the context of deep restructuring to address the challenges. And the supply of products will shrink dramatically.

According to a statement, in the coming years there will be a different logic of addressing the range: “will be gradually simplified”, with cutting up to 50 percent of the current models. The focus will reside in the most competitive market segments.

The options for vehicles (such as engines or equipment) will also be less, to reduce the complexity of the offer by up to 75 percent. The idea, says the German company, is to make room for “investments and development resources focused on products and technologies that give higher added value to customers and higher value contribution”.

What could possibly disappear?

For now, it is not known which models may be discontinued with the realignment of the manufacturer, nor of what marks. But it is expected that you will continue to bet on remarkable products like Polo (the new ID has recently arrived. Fully electric pole), the Golf, the T-Roc or even the Tiguan that has been on the market for almost 20 years.

But Volkswagen is not the only brand of the group. Audi has already discontinued A1 and Q2, while seat and Cupra may no longer have models that overlap.

New phase of VW Group transformation

Executive director Oliver Blume explained: “We are making the Volkswagen Group faster, more resilient and more competitive: through less complexity, focused technologies and even stronger product alignment, development and production with regional markets, overcapacity reduction, an optimized product portfolio and significantly more agile structures”.

Financial director Arno Antlitz, on the other hand, spoke of cost reduction, improved cost structure, increased efficiency of factories and accelerating decision making and technological development: “We can only achieve it by significantly reducing complexity – in the portfolio of technological products and platforms, in the number of units and levels of decision making”.

This is the “next phase of the car group transformation”It's been realigning for three years. It currently has the largest range of cars in its history.

The plan for the coming years aims to make the company “even more resilient against external influences and increasing risks” and thus have a competitive position in a sustainable way.

In addition to the measures taken from the supply point of view, the Volkswagen Group will also intervene in its production network both in China and in Europe – with a view to increasing productivity and speed through digitisation, sharing and use of artificial intelligence. Production will be reduced by 25 percent.

His focus is on the automotive business, which involves a review of the investment portfolio. It is also speculated that four factories in Germany can be closed and there are up to 100,000 extinct jobs, but there are no official numbers.