Do we like Volkswagen?
Europe's biggest carmaker (VW, Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Cupra and more), based in Wolfsburg, Germany.
Our score: 4 out of 10. Not yet. The diesel-cheating fraud and the Xinjiang row weigh heavily, and the labour record is mixed. Its push into affordable EVs counts in its favour, so it lands below the middle.
Volkswagen is Europe's biggest carmaker, with brands from mass-market VW to Porsche and Lamborghini. It is run from Wolfsburg by CEO Oliver Blume, who has held the top job since 2022. His contract was renewed to the end of 2030.
The big stain is Dieselgate. In 2017 VW pleaded guilty in a US court to fraud, obstruction of justice and misleading regulators about its diesel engines. The company's own lawyer said it was guilty on all counts. A US judge approved a $2.8bn criminal penalty, and total costs were put at around $30bn.
Then there's China's Xinjiang region. VW's joint venture ran a plant there, and Human Rights Watch called VW's 2023 audit of it deeply flawed. VW has said it would exit the site. HRW says supply-chain risks remain. VW said its audit found no signs of forced labour.
Right now it's in a painful restructuring. After a late-2024 deal ruling out forced layoffs until 2030, Manager Magazin reported plans for 100,000 job cuts and four plant closures. In September Bloomberg said Blume won unanimous backing from labour for his overhaul, but the fate of four German plants was still open.
Our take: it has made real moves, including a cheaper EV range and a union deal that kept workers at the table. But a guilty plea for deliberate emissions cheating and the unresolved Xinjiang questions keep our score below the middle.