German carmaker – Volkswagen plans to cut about 3000 jobs in its offices in Germany by the end of 2017 in an attempt to compensate the costs associated with diesel scandal, said two sources in the company on Thursday.
Europe's largest automaker reduces the investment by 1 billion euro ($ 1.1 billion) in 2016 compared with the previous year, and plans to cut hundreds of temporary jobs and abandon unprofitable models, which is expected to reduce costs caused by emission scandal.
In the West German VW plants and in the financial division there are employed about 120 000 workers and about one-third of them are in offices.
Sources did not disclose details of cuts. The German news agency DPA was the first to announce about it.
"The Volkswagen launched its efficiency improvement program, which affects all areas, including staff costs," - said a spokesman of the automaker.
Costs can be reduced by reducing the number of temporary employees, internal vacancies and by reducing hiring, he said, refusing to disclose details.
Volkswagen Factory Board did not respond to requests for comment.
In January, the US Department of Justice sued to Volkswagen for $ 46 billion for the violation in the area of environmental protection legislation. The company has also received over 500 complaints from American car owners.
On Thursday, Volkswagen quotes fell 3.05 % to 109.54 points in Frankfurt.
As for German stock market in general, it finished Thursday trade downwards amid negative dynamics of the chemical industry, construction and industry sectors.
At the close of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, DAX 30 fell 2.31%, MDAX index fell 1.64%, and TecDAX index fell 2.01%.
Among DAX 30 components, the shares of adidas AG (DE: ADSGN) rose 1.240 p (1.29%), closing at 97.570, which was the best result. Another car maker, Daimler AG (DE: DESIGn), decreased in price by 2.720 p (4.17%) and closed trading at around 62.560.