Volkswagen to face employees amid anger over cost-cutting plans

Volkswagen employees and managers are set to face off during the first of a series of extraordinary meetings at the carmaker's major German sites amid mounting anger over a cost-cutting drive.

The meetings were organized by the works council which has called on management to provide clarity on the planned measures that could mean up to 50,000 job cuts and put the future of four German plants at risk, on top of existing cost-cutting programmes.

Chief executive Oliver Blume has stressed that the measures adopted so far are not enough to make Europe's biggest carmaker competitive again.

“We are oversized. That often makes us too slow and too complicated,” he said, adding that the situation at Volkswagen, which is struggling with weak sales and shrinking margins in the critical Chinese market, was "more than critical."

The supervisory board - which includes employee representatives - rejected the latest cost-cutting proposals in July, meaning the road to an agreement looks rocky.

A total of nine extraordinary meetings, starting at the company's headquarters in Wolfsburg, have been scheduled with Volkswagen employees across the company's main German sites over the coming days as management and employees seek a way forward.