Brazil's Volkswagen union fears 5,700 job cuts

Volkswagen's Brazilian labour union said on Friday it expects more than 5,700 jobs will be cut in the next three years, but the German automaker denied that figure.
Still, Volkswagen's Brazil unit said this week it may have to lay off workers because a strong local currency is hurting exports. Thousands of job cuts and production slashes are "inevitable," Volkswagen said in a statement on Wednesday.
Brazil chief Hans-Christian Maergnar declined to talk in specific numbers. but said production costs need to fall by 25 percent.
He said on Wednesday he would work with union leaders to limit the number of job losses as much as possible for its 21,000 person workforce. Maergnar said the auto maker may forgo exporting 100,000 cars a year through 2008 as the real is at a 5-year high against the dollar.