The company’s management is in talks with its labor group over cutting costs to finance investments in electric vehicles and self-driving cars. Under Mr. Müller, Volkswagen’s individual brands and regional operations have obtained greater autonomy, moving away from the previous top-down model where decisions were made—or often delayed—at headquarters in Wolfsburg. But now Audi’s profit is declining in the wake of the diesel-emissions crisis, amplifying the weakness of the VW brand. VW’s labor group also wants guarantees that production of new technology, such as batteries for electric cars, be located in Germany to compensate for job losses in traditional engineering. Without a buy-in from its labor group, Mr. Müller’s investment plan may meet with little success at the Friday meeting.

Source: Wall Street Journal November 17, 2016 10:30 UTC