MAN SE, the German truckmaker owned by Volkswagen AG, plans to reduce the workforce of its European commercial-vehicle operations by about 5 percent to cut costs and revive profit.

About 1,800 jobs, mostly in administration, will be eliminated by the end of 2017, the Munich-based manufacturer said Wednesday in a statement. MAN’s European truck and bus unit employs about 36,000 people.

The company plans to avoid forced departures by offering employees jobs in other parts of the company and won’t close any facilities, it said. The program will cost a sum in the “low three-digit millions” of euros.

Volkswagen, which earlier this year created a holding company for MAN and fellow commercial-vehicle unit Scania AB, has been struggling to create a global heavy-truck business that can compete with industry leaders Daimler AG and Volvo AB. VW, Europe’s largest automaker, has reaped limited financial rewards for the billions of euros invested in the last decade to purchase Scania and MAN.