* Management to accelerate job cuts, target plant closures

* Workers protest against plan, 'unfair competition'

* Data shows worsening overcapacity at German plants

* Tariffs and Chinese competition prompt rethink of business

model

(Adds Volkswagen statement paragraphs 5,6)

By Rachel More and Christina Amann

WOLFSBURG, Germany, July 9 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's

proposal to cut up to 100,000 jobs and close four

German factories faces a major test on Thursday as the groups

that control Europe's largest carmaker meet to discuss the

plans, while workers protest against the overhaul.

Faced with high costs and excess capacity at home, rising

Chinese competition and U.S. import tariffs, Volkswagen is under

unprecedented pressure to restructure the business model that

underpinned the group's success for decades.

At Thursday's supervisory board meeting at Volkswagen's

headquarters in the German city of Wolfsburg, scheduled to start

at 1230 GMT, CEO Oliver Blume must convince the committee's

powerful labour faction to accept deeper cuts across the group,

which includes the Audi and Porsche brands.

He also faces pressure from the Porsche and Piech owner

families who have seen tens of billions of euros

wiped off the market value of their core investments in recent

years.

A Volkswagen spokesperson said the company shared workers'

concerns about the future but was reducing complexity and

focusing on technologies to create the conditions for success in

an increasingly demanding environment.

"We are tightening our investment portfolio and streamlining

our corporate structures," the spokesperson said in an emailed

statement. "And yes, we will also have to reduce overcapacity."

UNPRECEDENTED RESTRUCTURING PLAN COULD DOUBLE JOB CUTS

In what would be the group's biggest restructuring to date,

sources have said Blume is considering the closure of four

German plants - Hanover, Emden, Zwickau and Audi's Neckarsulm

site - as well as 100,000 job cuts, double the current number.

Volkswagen's supervisory board includes representatives from

the owner families, unions and the state government of Lower

Saxony, an uneasy combination that complicates decision-making.

In Blume's last restructuring deal in late 2024, unions

clinched a commitment from management to avoid German plant

closures, prompting Volkswagen to seek alternative uses for

underutilised sites.

This includes the long-running search for a defence partner

for Volkswagen's Osnabrueck factory and the possibility of

producing models designed for the Chinese market in Germany.

Mobility Global data seen by Reuters estimates that the

group's car plants in Germany will operate at 81% of their

standard capacity in 2026. That rate deteriorates to 73% by the

end of the decade, even after the expected removal of Osnabrueck

from the network.

In 2026, Zwickau is the best performer among the four sites

threatened with closure with a utilisation rate of 88%, but that

is forecast to drop to 42% by 2030, the data shows.

UNION CALLS FOR SAFEGUARDING GERMAN PRODUCTION

Ahead of the supervisory board meeting, Germany's top

industrial union IG Metall is rallying workers at around 20

Volkswagen Group sites across the country to protest against the

plans and call on management to safeguard German production.

"This is a clear message to the board: Not on our watch!" IG

Metall President Christiane Benner, who also serves as deputy

chair of Volkswagen's supervisory board, said in a statement.

"In difficult times, we stand together and demand that the

group and policymakers come up with ideas and plans to ensure

full capacity at our plants and protect us from unfair

competition," she added.