Porsche is cutting another 5,000 jobs. Total layoffs now approach 9,400.

Porsche will cut another 5,000 jobs by 2035 under a second restructuring package agreed between management and labour representatives. The cuts come on top of 3,900 job reductions and an additional 500 announced by CEO Michael Leiters earlier this year, bringing total planned layoffs close to 9,400. The Volkswagen subsidiary described the reductions as “socially responsible.” In exchange, workers secured plant location guarantees extended by five years to 2035 and €2.1 billion ($2.39 billion) in investments at the Zuffenhausen and Weissach factories.

Porsche went from VW Group’s profit driver to a crisis case. China sales fell 26% and operating margin collapsed to approximately 1%. The brand that once generated the margins Volkswagen used to subsidise its mass-market divisions now needs restructuring itself. China’s car market is heading for its worst year since 2021, with domestic sales down 20% in the first half, and the luxury segment has not been spared. Chinese consumers who once queued for a Cayenne or Taycan are now buying BYD, NIO, and Xiaomi EVs that offer comparable technology at a fraction of the price.

The restructuring lands ahead of a broader showdown at VW Group, where CEO Oliver Blume has proposed job cuts that could reach 100,000 employees across the company. VW and other foreign automakers are struggling in China’s EV market after three Chinese models overtook the Tiguan as Europe’s best-selling plug-in hybrids. The pattern across Volkswagen’s empire is consistent: cut jobs, demand tariffs, and invest in the factories that remain. Whether €2.1 billion in Zuffenhausen and Weissach is enough to make Porsche competitive against Chinese EVs that cost half as much depends on whether the brand premium survives a market that is learning to shop on specs rather than badges.