Volkswagen could face existential threat, internal survey shows

Volkswagen’s leadership believes the automotive giant is facing a threat to its very survival.

According to Der Spiegel, citing Manager Magazin, the findings come from an anonymous survey of the company’s top executives, including members of the management and supervisory boards.

The survey was initiated by Volkswagen itself. Six of the nine management board members who participated described the company’s situation as posing an existential threat, while the remaining three characterised it as tense. None of the respondents considered the situation non-critical. All nine executives agreed that Volkswagen requires a radical strategic shift.

Originally intended to assess the level of cohesion within the company’s leadership, the survey revealed not only divisions among senior managers but also a shared recognition that the crisis has reached a critical stage. Executives were particularly critical of the company’s current strategy in China and North America.

As Spiegel notes, such an assessment is a worrying signal for Europe’s largest carmaker and comes amid weak quarterly results across the group’s brands.

Earlier, Volkswagen reported a 14% decline in operating profit in the first quarter of 2026, falling to €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion). At the end of 2025, the company closed one of its German plants in Dresden—the first factory closure in its 88-year history.