Europe's largest car maker Volkswagen AG will miss its profit goal for the current year, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.
"VW chief Bernd Pischetsrieder will soon have to issue a profit warning," Der Spiegel said, without citing a source, in an article released in advance of publication on Monday. The company's goal of reaching an operating profit before one-off factors of 2.5 billion euros this year is not reachable, the magazine added.
A VW spokesman declined to comment, saying quarterly data would be published on July 23.
Der Spiegel also reported that Pischetsrieder is aiming for cost cuts of three billion euros, more than previously planned, with the company's ForMotion restructuring plan. ForMotion was previously reported to target savings of up to 2.2 billion euros.
However, company sources told Reuters that ForMotion is not the only savings programme at VW.
The magazine quoted VW's personnel chief Peter Hartz as saying sales are "well below our expectations." Due to low capacity utilisation, the company plans to temporarily halt production at its Wolfsburg plant during autumn holidays and over Christmas, the magazine added.