For all its talk of radical change, Volkswagen's cost-cutting deal in Germany relies heavily on the automaker's tradition of cooperation between managers and workers, according to details disclosed by company sources.

Chinese officials and automakers are eyeing German factories slated for closure and are particularly interested in Volkswagen's sites , a person with knowledge of Chinese government thinking told Reuters.

Car giant VW to wind down production at 2 factories; China could buy factories for foothold in Germany. Read more at straitstimes.com.

A new report claims Chinese carmakers are interested in buying Volkswagen's factories in Germany, but this could be only a pipe dream of a company in distress

CFO Arno Antlitz, speaking to investors in New York on Tuesday, said that the cost-cutting deal struck with unions last December tackled the carmaker's problems of high labour costs and capacity underutilisation.

The ailing German brand, facing plant closures at home and declining sales of its once vaunted EVs, hopes the ID. Buzz can revitalize consumer interest.

VW produces and sells vehicles around the world. Its Germanness is an important selling point, but the company is equally at home in China, Brazil and the US. Its dependence on foreign markets may soon come to bite.

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff plans would mean higher car prices for U.S. consumers and hit global automakers, Germany's powerful car industry warned on Tuesday, as auto stocks fell on the prospect of higher U.S. import duties.

Despite strong headwinds, Volkswagen delivered around 4.8 million vehicles to customers worldwide last year (down 1.4% YoY). The German carmaker, which also has a broad range of battery electric vehicles (BEVs),

Volkswagen is exploring alternative uses for its Dresden and Osnabrueck factories under a cost-cutting drive to pare back its German operations. Europe's biggest automaker, which owns brands including Porsche, Audi and Skoda, has seen sales fall amid rising competition from Chinese companies.

"It's hard to square the super-tough narrative of having reached a tipping point and going in all guns blazing, with the agreement that came out," said Stephen Reitman, analyst at Bernstein Research who has followed Volkswagen for decades.

The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, has built its post-Cold War economy in the same way Germany did post-reunification: with a focus on industry. Manufacturing as a share of GDP has hovered above 20% in the country for the last 30 years, joining Germany in bucking the Western trend of deindustrialization.