Volkswagen Launches €27,995 ID. Cross as Boardroom Battle Over Cuts Threatens Restructuring

Volkswagen launches ID. Cross electric SUV at €27,995 amid boardroom power struggle over Blume's cost-cutting plan, with stock near 52-week low and 50,000 jobs at risk.

Volkswagen is attempting to project a forward-looking image with the arrival of its new entry-level electric SUV, the ID. Cross, even as a bitter power struggle in the boardroom imperils the far-reaching cost-cutting plan CEO Oliver Blume needs to finance such ambitions. The tension between product offensive and internal paralysis has left the stock languishing near its 52-week low.

Shares of the preferential stock changed hands around €72 on Wednesday, a reading barely 4% above the year's trough of €69.20 hit on July 1. The stock has shed more than 31% of its value since the start of 2025, and remains roughly 23% below its 200-day moving average of €93.50. The relative strength index stands at 31.9, a level that often signals oversold conditions but has so far failed to attract sustained buying.

The ID. Cross is now available for order at a starting price of €27,995 — a deliberate bid to reclaim volume in the affordable EV segment that Chinese manufacturers such as BYD and Chery have been rapidly colonizing. Chery's Jaecoo 7, for example, ranked among the three best-selling SUVs in Britain in the first half of the year. Blume has publicly admitted to being caught off guard by the pace of Chinese expansion in Europe, a market that is becoming more critical for Volkswagen as sales in China continue to shrink. US deliveries provided a rare bright spot, with Volkswagen of America reporting a second-quarter increase of 24.9% driven by the Tiguan and ID. Buzz.

The real drama, however, is unfolding in Wolfsburg. Blume's so-called "Zukunftsplan" — the future plan — would slash the model lineup by half and cut the number of trim variants by three-quarters, aiming to reduce complexity and administrative costs that are 20% higher than at comparable automakers. The package also implies sweeping job reductions: Blume has warned that 50,000 positions could be at risk globally if labour costs are left unchanged, with up to 70,000 additional cuts possible by 2030. Plant closures in Emden, Hanover, Neckarsulm and Zwickau have been floated.

Those proposals ran into a wall in the supervisory board last Thursday. Twelve of the 19 members voted against the plan, forcing a postponement until September. According to insiders, Blume is preparing to escalate — including the possibility of convening an extraordinary general meeting if the board continues to obstruct. Meanwhile, negotiations with labour representatives and the state of Lower Saxony also touch on converting the Osnabrück plant to defence production.

The contrast between the product launch and the boardroom stalemate has amplified caution among analysts. While the consensus recommendation on the stock remains a Buy, with a 12-analyst average price target of €115.18, a growing number of voices have shifted to Hold — a sign that real conviction will return only when cost savings materialise. The 50-day moving average of €83.27 underscores how far the shares have drifted from recent norms.

Volkswagen is scheduled to report first-half results on July 24. The numbers will reveal whether the Chinese sales slump has stabilised and whether the new electric offensive is already generating momentum. But with the chairman's restructuring plan stuck in a political quagmire, the market may need more than a fresh model to change its mind.