Volkswagen and its unions were far from finding common ground on tackling a crisis at its German plants but held talks on Monday that both sides described as constructive, as record numbers of the carmaker's workers went on strike across the country.

The fourth round of wage talks between Volkswagen workers and management was accompanied by rolling strikes at nine of the auto giant's plants, but after six hours, no solution was reached. On Monday evening both sides spoke of a constructive atmosphere,