German auto parts supplier Robert Bosch GmbH may cut hundreds of jobs abroad as the economic crisis deepens, management board member Bernd Bohr told Auto Motor and Sport magazine in an interview released Saturday.

Bohr is quoted as saying the cuts could mean hundreds of fewer jobs at its foreign installations.

"It could be more depending on how deep the economic falloff will be," Bohr said.

The company has auto parts plants in many countries in Asia and the Americas, including major installations in the United States, China and India.

Bosch spokeswoman Uta Michaela Duerig confirmed the report, adding that the company would first try to cut costs by reducing work hours.

Last month, Bosch announced it would reduce working hours for some of its 66,000 workers at German plants as the car industry cuts costs and braces for economic recession. In recent weeks, German automakers including BMW AG, Daimler AG and General Motors Corp. subsidiary Adam Opel AG, among others in Europe, have announced production cuts.

In an interview released Saturday by Der Spiegel news magazine, Volkswagen AG chief executive Martin Winterkorn predicted car sales would drop 20-25 percent in 2009. In comments confirmed by a VW spokesman, Winterkorn said he expected Volkswagen's own sales to drop 10-12 percent.