For the first time in nearly 15 years, Volkswagen has been removed from the EURO STOXX 50, the eurozone's benchmark blue-chip index. The annual index rebalancing took effect on September 21, with index compiler STOXX announcing two additions and two deletions. Nokia and French utility giant Engie joined the index, while Volkswagen's preferred shares and Dutch publisher Wolters Kluwer were removed. This marks Volkswagen's first exit from the blue-chip index in almost 15 years. The EURO STOXX 50 brings together the 50 largest and most liquid companies in the eurozone, making it the region's most representative blue-chip benchmark.
Among the new entrants, Nokia returns to the EURO STOXX 50 after a one-year absence. The company was dropped in the 2025 annual review, but with the global AI communications and computing infrastructure sector heating up, combined with deepened technical collaboration with Microsoft, its market capitalization and liquidity have met blue-chip admission standards once again.
Volkswagen's removal from the core blue-chip index reflects the capital market's assessment of its struggling fundamentals. On September 18, Volkswagen officially announced that due to Porsche Group goodwill impairment, challenging market conditions, and additional restructuring costs, it has revised its fiscal 2026 outlook, cutting its full-year operating sales return forecast from the previous 4.0%-5.5% range to a maximum of 1%. Special items are expected to weigh on operating profit by around 10 billion euros, of which 6 billion euros comes from non-cash goodwill impairment in the Porsche business segment. Excluding one-off impairment factors, the group's core operating margin stands at approximately 4%.
The company stated that operating earnings will be hit by further deterioration in market conditions, particularly in China, while demand is accelerating toward electric vehicles. In the first half of this year, Volkswagen's operating profit fell to 5.9 billion euros, down 11.6% year-on-year, with after-tax profit of 3.1 billion euros, down 30.7%. In the Chinese market, Volkswagen delivered 971,000 vehicles in the first half of the year, a drop of 26.1% year-on-year. Facing price wars and smart-technology pressure from local new energy vehicle makers, Volkswagen's fossil-fuel vehicle share continues to shrink, while its new energy models have yet to generate sufficient incremental scale to offset the decline.
Volkswagen is advancing its localization strategy, partnering with XPeng to build a CEA local electronic and electrical architecture to address its smart-technology shortcomings. The company has launched its "2030 Future Plan," a large-scale restructuring described as the most extensive structural reform in the group's history. The plan aims to streamline half of its vehicle models, reduce component complexity, and optimize its workforce. In early September, Volkswagen's supervisory board acknowledged that the company's European production capacity exceeds market demand by more than 500,000 vehicles, and that four plants in Germany — Emden, Zwickau, Hanover, and Neckarsulm — cannot guarantee competitive production quotas for the 2031-2034 period. The group is also evaluating alternative uses for these plants.
On the staffing front, under the "2030 Future Plan," the group needs to adjust around 50,000 positions, including management roles. Combined with the previously announced plan to cut approximately 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030, Volkswagen's total planned job cuts now reach 100,000. Notably, after Stellantis was removed last year, Volkswagen becomes another major European automaker to exit the blue-chip index. Following the rebalancing, only BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Ferrari remain among the three listed automakers in the EURO STOXX 50. Market analysts suggest that the index removal will trigger passive fund selling pressure, potentially weighing further on Volkswagen's share price in the near term. The stock has already fallen roughly 70% from its 2021 market rally peak, sitting at a 16-year low. At the time of writing, Volkswagen preferred shares were down 1.31%. A Volkswagen spokesperson told media that index inclusion does not change the company's fundamental strength, and despite the historic transformation underway in the auto industry, Volkswagen remains an attractive investment.
Comments