Peugeot Citroën (PSA) cuts 8.000 jobs in France. In 2014, the historic plant will close Aulnay-sous-bois, at the gates of Paris, where 3.000 people work and where the C3 is currently produced. In the Rennes plant, on the other hand, 1.400 jobs out of 5.600 will be cut. Another 3.600 redundancies concern workers not related to assembly activities within the group.
The decision of the first French car manufacturer is linked to the difficult financial situation of the group. The first half closed with a loss, mainly due to the bad performance of the auto division. Furthermore, for this year, the PSA experts estimate for the European car market a drop of between 8 and 10%.
“The depth and persistence of the crisis affecting our business in Europe – commented the managing director, Philippe Varin in a note – made this reorganization project indispensable for aligning our production capacity with foreseeable market trends”.
In recent days, the Paris government had raised the tone with Peugeot Citroën to reveal its plans for French production plants. The group, despite a series of economies implemented since 2009 (employee cuts, new project freezes and asset sales), is still in dire straits and intends to concentrate production in the Paris region of Poissy.
