Volkswagen expects to cut up to 20,000 employees in the next three years at its core VW brand in a sweeping restructuring programme that could also see production capacity cut, the company said.

It said it expects higher operating profit before special items this year, along with slightly higher revenue. Thanks primarily to a 3.5 billion euros ($4.2 billion) gross earnings boost from its ‘ForMotion’ programme, Volkswagen reported a 70 per cent rise in operating profit to 2.79 billion euros even after posting a hefty one-off charge of 351 million euros last year.
Profit before taxes, a key figure since it includes the contribution from VW’s two joint ventures in China, rose by nearly 60 per cent to 1.72 billion euros. After tax, the group earned 1.12 billion, a gain of just over 60 per cent.