WOLFSBURG (dpa-AFX) - Automaker Volkswagen wants to get its profit-weak core brand VW Passenger Cars back on track with a new savings and efficiency program. "We see that our brand - for all its strengths - is not yet solidly enough positioned economically," brand chief Thomas Schäfer said in an internal letter to employees Wednesday, obtained by financial news agency dpa-AFX. "However, we must also create good, competitive returns in times of crisis and in a world that is volatile in the long term," Schäfer said in the letter. The "Handelsblatt" had previously reported on the letter.

According to the letter, Schäfer wants to start in production, among other things. "We are aligning our plants not according to brands, but according to platforms. This then determines which models are produced there. Not the other way around," he announced. That alone, he said, would bring billions in savings in the coming years to the so-called volume brand group, which also includes Skoda, Seat and the small VW commercial vehicles.

In the first quarter, the core brand of the Wolfsburg-based auto group had only brought in a 3 percent return on sales - out of 100 euros in sales, only 3 euros in operating profit remained in day-to-day business. "This means we simply cannot afford to make important investments in the future," Schäfer said. "To be truly crisis-proof, we need a sustainable return on sales of 6.5 percent." That's why VW is now launching a program for greater efficiency and cost savings, he added.

The "Handelsblatt" said Volkswagen was aiming for an improvement in earnings of at least 3 billion euros a year. The program explicitly does not involve job cuts, the paper reported from company circles. Rather, partial retirement is to be used and positions are not to be filled. A spokesman for the company would not comment on the report. Schäfer said in the internal letter to the workforce that it was still too early to give details. Employees are to be informed about concrete steps together with the works council.

From the employee side, works council head Daniela Cavallo made it clear that she expects participation. "We have taken note of the corresponding objectives of the brand management board, and talks now need to be held about them," she said in a statement. Profitability and job security are equally important and shared goals, she said. "Collective bargaining cuts or reductions in our job security cannot be made with us," she added./men/DP/ngu