It cited reduced demand for Caro, which was popular in the post-war period. "This led to production volume stagnating at a low level. The site is far from being fully used," it said in a statement.

Some output from the Ludwigsburg plant near Stuttgart will be transferred to other sites in Europe, it added.

(Reporting by Angelika Gruber, Writing by Michael Shields; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)