Karmann has filed for insolvency, a court in the northwestern city of Osnabrueck said on April 9.
The magazine Spiegel quoted trade union IG Metall as saying that 3,570 workers in German would be affected by the move.
Founded in 1901, Karmann specializes in producing car bodies, in particular for convertible and coupe models sold by Mercedes, Renault and Volkswagen.
In 2007, the group employed about 7,000 people but it has slashed its workforce since owing to a sharp drop in orders.
In March, Karmann stopped assembling vehicles and laid off 1,300 workers.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
