The committee includes VW Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch, the company's powerful labour representative Bernd Osterloh and two representatives from the German state of Lower Saxony.

They discussed the crisis at Audi with Wolfgang Porsche, a member of the clan that controls Volkswagen group, the sources said.

This will be followed by a meeting of Audi's supervisory board, a third source said. Labour representatives from Volkswagen and members of the Porsche and Piech families also sit on the Audi supervisory board.

Following the Audi supervisory board meeting, Volkswagen Group's supervisory board will be informed about proposed changes at the top of Audi, the German carmaking group's most profitable brand.

(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach, Irene Preisinger, Jan Schwartz; Writing by Edward Taylor; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Sabine Wollrab)