One thousand seven hundred people no longer work in Peugeot’s factory in Rennes, France, for which the carmaker targeted 850 buyouts as it shut down an assembly line last year, company spokesman Pierre-Olivier Salmon told the aforementioned source.
Peugeot is reducing costs as it is trying to obtain a similar profit margin to that of rivals such as Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG. Chief Executive Officer Philippe Varin pledged at the end of last year to find savings of 3.3 billion euros until 2012. More than 50% of these will be based on reducing spendings as the global workforce decreases by 10% and factories are scaled back with no compulsory layoffs.
The manufacturer’s voluntary-departure offer is open to workers at the plant until March 31, Salmon mentioned. Around 4,000 jobs have been cut among the rest of Peugeot’s workforce in France. The latter could be translated into a figure of 104,465 employees, representing 55 percent of the company’s global personnel.
PSA reported a 2.2 decrease in sales for 2009. For 2010, however, the French auto maker is optimistic regarding all markets except Europe, where the group expects sales to register a one digit decrease, mainly due to the removal of government support through scrappage schemes.
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