Porsche faces another 4,000 job cuts

Turnaround plan comes following profit warning for VW's sports car subsidiary

BERLIN:

Volkswagen's sweeping turnaround plan foresees more than 4,000 further job cuts at Porsche, German business daily Handelsblatt reported on Saturday, following a profit warning linked to problems at the sports car subsidiary.

Files documenting a recent agreement by Volkswagen's supervisory board to usher in the German auto group's largest restructuring yet propose a reduction of "about 4,100 employees" at the brand, addressing an overhead shortfall of some €700 million ($803.8 million), according to Handelsblatt.

The newspaper said the cuts would be "in addition to existing agreements". In July, Porsche management and labour representatives agreed to an additional 5,000 layoffs on top of 4,000 determined earlier, bringing the scope of currently agreed job cuts at the Stuttgart-based 911 maker to around one in five by 2035.

A Porsche spokesperson declined to comment on the reported plans of Volkswagen's supervisory board. The parent company can only recommend, but not mandate, such measures at Porsche. Volkswagen on Friday revised down its full-year margin target, now hoping for 1% at best rather than a previous range of 4.0-5.5%.