A fourth round of negotiations between German car manufacturer Volkswagen and workers' unions began on Monday against a backdrop of renewed rolling strikes and with little sign of an agreement in sight.

Following a sharp drop in profits caused by increasing costs at home and competition from abroad, particularly from China, Volkswagen is looking to make wide-ranging cuts, including redundancies, wage reductions and even factory closures.

"We need cost reductions that can be implemented in the short term and are sustainable," said the company's lead negotiator, Arne Meiswinkel.

"This is the only way we can remain competitive in a challenging environment."

Unions 'furious and stunned'

But trade unions are angry at what they see as workers paying the price for executive mismanagement and took their members out on strike at nine plants across Germany for the second time this month.

"Instead of intelligent solutions, they offer only mass layoffs and job cuts," said Christiane Benner, chairwoman of the IG Metall union, adding that she was "furious and stunned" at Volkswagen's actions so far.

"The problems are huge," she said, addressing tens of thousands of workers outside the flagship VW plant in Wolfsburg, 90 kilometers (56 miles) east of Hannover in northern Germany.

"But they can't be solved with closures, redundancies and wage cuts. The blame for the crisis does not lie with the employees, but with the many bad decisions made by the management."

Volkswagen threatening 10% wage cuts

The union is demanding that all 10 Volkswagen plants in Germany remain open and that approximately 130,000 employees receive guarantees of employment.

Whereas the previous round of strikes on December 2 lasted for two hours, Monday's walkouts lasted twice as long.

In November, IG Metall had offered to forgo salary increases in a move that it said would save Volkswagen around €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion).

But Meiswinkel said the offer was "not yet sufficient for a sustainable solution" and the company is continuing to demand 10% across-the-board pay cuts.

IG Metall regional secretary Thorsten Gröger called on management to show a greater willingness to compromise, otherwise promising "an escalation the likes of which this company has never seen before."

mf/rc (dpa, AFP)

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.