Roughly 700 IG Metall shop-floor representatives at Audi have closed ranks behind a single demand: no more savings packages at the expense of employment, sites and incomes. Meeting in Ingolstadt, the delegates turned a routine stewards’ assembly into a show of unity aimed squarely at the carmaker’s board.
At the top of their list was strategy. Christiane Benner, IG Metall’s first chair, pressed management for a clear plan for where the company is heading. Karola Frank, who heads the union at Audi, put the choice bluntly — investment, not another round of cuts. Works council chair Jörg Schlagbauer anchored the message in an existing commitment: the job-security agreement at the company runs through the end of 2033.
Pay also made it onto the agenda. Carlos Gil of IG Metall Ingolstadt described a
According to a report dated 18 October 2026, the union is heading into the coming collective bargaining round with three priorities: protecting employment, linking pay to inflation, and targeted transition support for employees affected by the sector’s shift to electric vehicles.
A lending scheme already running inside the plants
Alongside the bargaining table, internal adjustments are under way. In Ingolstadt, a dedicated staff-lending programme is aimed at engineers, quality assurance specialists, project managers and employees in the technical development workshops.
As reported on 18 October 2026, participants keep their pay under the collective agreement, topped up by a special allowance. The scheme has drawn broad backing — both IG Metall and Bavarian economic bodies support it. Demand currently outstrips the number of places available, and an internal information meeting has been scheduled for the end of October.
Competing headcount figures and a plant’s uncertain future
The union’s demands land in a complicated economic setting. Reports from mid-October 2026 put several different figures in circulation on job reductions: one source points to up to 7,500 positions going by 2029, mainly in administration and development, while another reported an announced cut of 9,500 jobs over five years, with the core workforce protected until 2029.
Audi chief executive Gernot Döllner triggered the so-called bad-weather clause on 8 October 2026. According to a media report, Döllner wants to shield Audi from the effects of wider VW austerity plans — which, under group chief Oliver Blume, extend to capacity reductions and even plant closures — and is looking for allies for a possible defensive fight. No specific figures on return targets or savings volumes were given.
Operational changes at the sites are already looming. At Neckarsulm, which employs more than 15,000 people and where job security applies until 31 December 2033, a cost-reduction concept must be on the table by mid-2027.
Beyond examining a cut in planned annual capacity from 225,000 to 150,000 vehicles, production of the current A8 generation will be phased out there over the course of 2026; a stop on orders for configurations has applied since the start of 2026.
Looking further ahead, Audi and Porsche are negotiating joint production of the next A8 generation from 2030 at the Leipzig plant, alongside the Porsche Panamera. Porsche has confirmed the talks, but no final decision has been made.
