Layoffs at Peugeot Signal France's Deepening Problems |
| Businessweek - Jul 12, 2012 |
A bug-eyed little car known as the deux-chevaux (meaning two-horsepower) was an icon of the French car industry for more than four decades. Now PSA Peugeot Citroen, whose Citroen unit produced the deux-chevaux until 1990, has become an emblem of France’s deepening economic woes — and a key test for its new Socialist President Francois Hollande.
On July 12, Peugeot announced it will close a factory in the Paris suburbs and cut thousands of jobs at other facilities. Including reductions announced last year, it’s set to shed some 14,000 workers, mainly in France. Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called the announcement “a true shock.”
Peugeot had little choice. It will post a 700 million euro ($860 million) first-half operating loss and is burning through 200 million in cash every month. Its factories are operating at only 76 percent of capacity, as first-half deliveries slid 13 percent. To raise cash and cut debt, it is selling off assets including its Paris headquarters. “Peugeot is pretty close to bankrupt,” says Nicolas Meilhan, a Paris-based consultant at Frost & Sullivan who previously worked for the car company.
Read Full Article from Businessweek
- Posted: 2012-07-12 13:54:48
| More Stock Investor Place Company News |
 |
|
|
|
| Stock Investor Place Company News Archive |
|
|
|
