The management of German carmaker Volkswagen on Wednesday defended plans to reduce costs, as employees gathered at a key staff assembly to protest potential plant closures. “We still have a year, maybe two years, to turn things around. But we have to use this time,” said the chief financial officer of the Volkswagen Group, Arno Antlitz, at the meeting in the northern city of Wolfsburg. “For some time now, we have been spending more money on the [Volkswagen] brand than we are earning. That doesn’t work in the long term,” he added. The core VW brand is facing plant closures and mandatory redunda…