Volkswagen is considering cutting up to 30,000 jobs to cut costs and improve its competitiveness against rivals like Tesla. This is reported by the German daily newspaper Handelsblatt, which cites Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess to the supervisory board based on sources.

The car group would have outlined several scenarios. One of these would involve a severe intervention. A Volkswagen spokesperson said in a response that there is no doubt that the carmaker must address the competitiveness of its extensive factory in Wolfsburg. But the discussion on this would still be ongoing, and there would be no “concrete scenarios” yet.

A spokesperson for the Volkswagen works council has already said that a measure that will result in the loss of 30,000 jobs is “absurd and unfounded”. The job reduction outlined by the business newspaper would mean that about a quarter of the total number of jobs at Volkswagen’s main brand is at risk.

Volkswagen is also considering listing its car charging and energy activities on the stock exchange, similar to existing plans for the battery division. This is what another senior Volkswagen executive said in an interview with Manager Magazin. However, he also pointed out that nothing has been decided yet and that it will likely take up to a few years before the new companies can be set up and actually ready to go public.