Toyota Outpaces Volkswagen in Production Efficiency, Sparking German Auto Debate

In the first half of 2026 Toyota produced 5.39 million vehicles with 391 000 employees, while Volkswagen built 4.13 million cars employing 629 000 staff. The data show Toyota delivering about 1.26 million more cars with 238 000 fewer workers, translating to roughly 13.8 cars per employee versus Volkswagen’s 6.6. The efficiency gap has intensified internal debate at Volkswagen, where CEO Oliver Blume proposed cutting 100 000 jobs to improve competitiveness. The supervisory board rejected the plan, voting 12 against 7, leaving the German automaker to reassess its vertically integrated production model.