While Volkswagen announced that its second-quarter profits fell by 9.5 percent, the company’s general manager, Oliver Blume, wants to go through a restructuring that also envisages the layoff of 100,000 people.
Volkswagen, which previously announced a growth forecast of up to 3 percent, now expects a decrease of up to 3 percent in sales revenues this year.
While Volkswagen reported an operating profit of 3.5 billion euros in the second quarter, analysts were expecting a slight improvement compared to the same quarter last year, at 3.9 billion euros, according to a survey by Visible Alpha.
“The environment for the automotive industry remains extremely challenging,” Blume said, pointing to geopolitical crises, trade conflicts, tight regulations, volatile markets and increased competition.
