Bloomberg has reported that French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroën will terminate a further 1 500 jobs by the end of 2013. This news comes in the wake of the 8 000 worker cut they announced back in July. As part of the downscaling, the Aulnay plant near Paris will also cease production by the end of 2013, marking the first French car factory to close in 20 years. PSA will be forced to combine the workload from the company’s Poissy plant with a plant in Rennes, which is also affected by job cuts.
PSA is Europe’s second-largest carmaker and their decision to reduce French automotive operations by 11 200 workers (17% of its workforce) to 55 900 employees over the next two years, comes as car sales in Europe drop to their lowest volume since 1995.
Bloomberg has reported previously that PSA have been losing €200-million a month throughout 2012. PSA sold its 48-year old Parisian headquarters in an effort to aid the company’s debt woes and, last month, talks stalled between the French conglomerate and its alliance partner, General Motors, on the potential of combining brands and technology with Opel.
There appear to be tough times ahead for PSA Peugoet Citroën. Even so, financial analysts say the cuts will take time to take effect, but they are necessary to PSA’s recovery. PSA have been over capacity, over staffed and holding onto too many obsolete models for too long it appears.
