VW to cut output but confirms 2008 sales targets

By the end of the year, 750 temporary jobs of a total 3,700 in Germany would not be renewed, a Volkswagen statement said.

But a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that 25,000 posts worldwide were on the line is "false", the biggest European carmaker said.

Like its main rivals however, Volkswagen would reduce capacity, using "its great production flexibility to adapt to changed market conditions," the company said.

Boss Martin Winterkorn had already warned that 2009 would be a "difficult" year.

Sales director Detlef Wittig said on Friday: "We note with concern that the situation for the global sector deteriorated markedly in September."

Volkswagen has managed better than many rivals to deal with the deteriorating market environment, and said on Friday that sales this year would be better than in 2007, when they surpassed six million vehicles.

In the nine months from January to September 2008, Volkswagen said it had sold 4.8 million units, an annualized increase of 3.9 percent.

Slumping western European sales have been partially offset by strong increases in emerging countries like China and Brazil.

Photo: Reuters