Volkswagen sales plunge as German automaker lays out plan to slash number of brands

BERLIN (AP) — Volkswagen reported weak sales numbers on Friday, a day after the giant German automaker announced plans to slash the number of models by nearly half as sales plunged, particularly in China.

The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said group sales fell 8.6% in the second quarter to just under 2.1 million vehicles, with sales in China alone plummeted by more than one-third.

After a board meeting on Thursday, Volkswagen said its “fundamental realignment” over the last three years had reached its next phase, announcing plans to streamline the model lineup by up to half, without providing specifics.

CEO Oliver Blume laid out plans to make VW faster and more competitive through less complexity, focused technologies, better alignment across regional markets and reduction of overcapacities, among other things, citing an “increasingly demanding environment.”

Among its main brands, the core Volkswagen unit saw deliveries of slightly over 1 million vehicles in the second quarter, a drop of 14% from a year earlier. Deliveries at Audi declined 8% and those at Porsche fell 18%.

Lamborghini, Skoda and the trucks unit reported upticks, and sales grew in the Americas and Europe.

Volkswagen cited dramatic change over the last year, including geopolitical tensions, rising costs mainly through tariffs, and increasing regulatory requirements alongside growing competition.

As recently as December, Volkswagen was betting big on China, where electric cars have been taking a greater market share and competition is stiff.

Research firm BernsteinSG, in a note after Thursday's announcement, expressed skepticism. “VW stated that it is extending its technology leadership, a claim that will likely raise eyebrows given the pace of innovation among its Chinese competitors,” it said.

Also Thursday, hundreds of employees led a protest outside the Volkswagen plant in Zwickau to demand protections for jobs and voice opposition to plans to close the site. The factory has fully switched to making electric cars.

Employees of carmaker Volkswagen AG and IG Metall union members rally on the grounds of the Volkswagen headquarters on the day of the supervisory board meeting, in Wolfsburg, Germany, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (Lisi Niesner/Pool Photo via AP)

From left; Christiane Benner, chairwoman of IG Metall union, Daniela Cavallo, chairwoman of the General and Group Works Councils of Volkswagen, and Thorsten Groeger, IG Metall regional leader for Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt take part in a march by employees of carmaker Volkswagen AG and IG Metall union members rally on the grounds of the Volkswagen headquarters on the day of the supervisory board meeting, in Wolfsburg, Germany, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (Lisi Niesner/Pool Photo via AP)

Employees of carmaker Volkswagen AG and IG Metall union members rally on the grounds of the Volkswagen headquarters on the day of the supervisory board meeting, in Wolfsburg, Germany, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (Lisi Niesner/Pool Photo via AP)

GENEVA (AP) — At least 1 million women have lost access to humanitarian and other critical support as a result of budget cuts over the last 18 months, the U.N. agency focusing on women said Friday.

UN Women says 84% of women's organizations surveyed had reported increased needs since January 2025, when the Trump administration in the United States — the biggest U.N. donor — took office and began cutbacks in foreign aid.

"Every dollar withdrawn from women’s organizations is a dollar withdrawn from survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, displaced mothers, girls forced from school and communities struggling to survive,” said Sofia Calltorp, UN Women’s chief of humanitarian action.

Nearly 90% of the women's groups surveyed said they can't meet current levels of need anymore, and one in five said they expect to shut down temporarily or permanently within the next year.

“UN Women has spoken to 855 women’s organizations working in 52 countries, who have told us that these women and girls have been turned away due to funding cuts that are dismantling their organizations," Calltorp told reporters in Geneva.

"We know that this number, at least 1 million women and girls, is just the tip of the iceberg,” she added.

Conflict-related sexual violence had doubled last year, UN Women said. It noted a recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 38 mostly developed countries, that found that development assistance fell by nearly a quarter last year to $174 billion — the largest yearly contraction on record.

“Without immediate action, the organizations that have kept women and girls alive through the world’s worst crises risk becoming another casualty of war,” Calltorp said.

Many U.N. organizations have cut thousands of jobs and reduced aid programs around the world over the last 18 months in the wake of funding cuts by the United States and other top donors.

The world body, as part of a reform process known as UN80, has been considering the prospect of merging UN Women with UNFPA, the sexual and reproductive health agency.

FILE -Women and children fetch water at dusk in the Korsi Refugee Camp in Birao, the Central African Republic, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly, File)