Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said further cost reductions are needed at the Emden plant, one of five German sites threatened with closure, as labor leader Daniela Cavallo said workers’ confidence in him had been damaged but not beyond repair. Blume said Emden labor costs are more than double those at comparable European locations and that Volkswagen cannot finance its future with operating margins of about 3.8%. The restructuring plan could involve another 50,000 job losses, in addition to roughly 50,000 already agreed across the group, and faces opposition from labor representatives and Lower Saxony amid Chinese competition, excess capacity and U.S. tariff costs.