BERLIN, Germany: Volkswagen Chief Executive Oliver Blume has told employees the automaker may need to eliminate about 50,000 additional jobs as it seeks to improve competitiveness, effectively confirming for the first time that the company is considering cutting up to 100,000 positions worldwide.

Europe's largest carmaker is under pressure to reduce costs as it grapples with billions of euros in tariff-related expenses, intense competition in China and the need to improve efficiency across its German manufacturing operations.

According to an internal memo, Volkswagen has already agreed to cut 50,000 jobs across the group, including at its Porsche and Audi brands, but further action may be needed after the company identified a 20 percent cost disadvantage compared with rival automakers.

The memo said this translated into a "theoretical deduction" of another 50,000 jobs.

"We are currently assessing across all brands, companies and regions how many adjustments are actually necessary and feasible," Blume said.

The memo follows calls from workers for greater clarity on the restructuring plans Blume presented to Volkswagen's supervisory board last week.

Sources familiar with the matter said labor representatives on the board opposed proposals that included additional job cuts and the possible closure of four factories.

"As of today, we still cannot confirm competitive use cases for the plants of Emden, Hanover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm in the 2030s," Blume said in the memo.

He added that he preferred "intelligent solutions" over plant closures, pointing to options such as defense industry partnerships or producing Volkswagen models designed for the Chinese market at underused European factories.

Volkswagen has previously declined to comment on reports that it was considering eliminating up to 100,000 jobs.

Following last week's supervisory board meeting, the company did not mention possible job cuts or factory closures. Instead, it announced plans to further reduce production capacity and gradually halve its model lineup, measures that analysts said did not go far enough to address Volkswagen's challenges.

"Of course, it's understandable that not everything has been planned out down to the last detail yet, and that certain issues still need to be further discussed and evaluated," Blume said.

"There will certainly be more meetings in which we will work hard to find the best solutions."