🚨VOLKSWAGEN CEO BACKS DOWN ON FACTORY CLOSURES AFTER BOARD REJECTS HIS PLAN 12 TO 19 Oliver Blume now says there are "smarter solutions" than shutting plants, days after reports leaked that VW was weighing up to 100,000 job cuts and four German factory closures. VW's works council says there has been "a massive loss of trust" in Blume over the leaked plans. "Our products are highly popular, we just aren't making enough money from them," per Bloomberg.(Coin Bureau)