Audi wants to cut workforce by 15% – warnings of thousands of jobs at risk

First it was Volkswagen and now the panic has spread to other areas.

So say the German media, which reports that Audi is considering cutting the workforce by 15 percent in a dramatic effort to cut costs, Telegraph reports.

The news comes from Manager Magazin, which claims Audi will retain production line positions and instead focus its moves on "indirect" work such as development.

MoE says this would mean 2,000 redundancies.

But cutbacks in other parts of the business would eventually result in 4,500 people seeking a new wage.

Audi acknowledged to Reuters that its board is currently holding talks with workers' representatives, but declined to confirm the report's estimate of total layoffs.

The job losses on Audi's home turf will give the automaker's German staff a taste of the uncertainty their 3000 colleagues in Brussels, Belgium, have had to endure recently. /Telegraph/