BERLIN – As one of the world’s largest automakers works to reverse slipping operational and financial performance, Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume has firmly signaled that plant shutdowns are not on the table as part of the company’s ongoing restructuring efforts. In comments published Sunday by German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, Blume emphasized that more strategic alternatives exist compared to shuttering domestic facilities, amid growing market pressure and internal cost-reduction targets. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany, Volkswagen currently navigates two major headwinds: mounting internal pressure to slash operational costs at its home base in Germany, and rapidly intensifying competition from local and global rivals in the high-value Chinese electric and internal combustion vehicle market. Just last week, the automaker announced that its three-year long “fundamental realignment” initiative has entered its next critical phase, revealing plans to cut its global model lineup by as much as 50 percent to streamline production and reduce overhead. The company did not release detailed breakdowns of which models would be cut, or what additional cost-cutting measures would be implemented, leaving industry analysts and stakeholders guessing about the future of several of Volkswagen’s German production facilities. “There are more intelligent solutions than closing plants,” Blume told the outlet. The CEO added that ongoing cost-reduction programs at Volkswagen’s German factories have already started delivering tangible results, noting that “we were able to improve our factory costs in Germany by an average 20% last year alone.” Blume characterized that 20 percent reduction as “strong progress” for the company’s restructuring goals. Blume also acknowledged that while consumer demand for Volkswagen’s broad portfolio of vehicles remains robust, the company’s profit margins on those products are far lower than leadership targets. “Volkswagen’s products are very popular, but we just earn too little money with them,” he explained. “So we must continue to reduce our costs. In all kinds of costs.” The comments come as global automakers across the industry face shifting consumer demand, rising raw material costs, and steep investment requirements for the transition to electric vehicles, forcing many legacy manufacturers to implement broad restructuring efforts to remain competitive.