Peugeot axes 2,300 UK jobs
Peugeot axes 2,300 UK jobs
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Tuesday, 18, Apr 2006 04:28
French car manufacturer Peugeot has announced that it is to close its plant at Ryton in the West Midlands with the loss of 2,300 jobs.
The manufacturer said that it had made the decision to close the plant after a pan-European review of its industrial facilities, claiming that costs at the plant, located near Coventry, were too high to justify its continued operations.
Peugeot Citroen chief executive Jean Martin Folz travelled to the factory in person to announce the news to staff and trade union officials this morning.
"The weaknesses for the Ryton plant - high production and logistical costs - mean that the group is unable to justify the investment needed for the production of future vehicles, after the Peugeot 206, currently produced at this plant," Peugeot Citroen said in a statement.
"These internal factors, together with reduced demand and intense competition in Europe, have led the group to come to this conclusion, having already reduced production at a number of other European sites at the end of 2005."
The statement added that the car manufacturer would consult with trade unions in the coming months in a bid to "provide a support package for its staff and to help as many as possible to find alternative employment".
Peugeot will begin phasing the plant out of production in July, when it will halve the number of shifts carried out by Ryton employees. It expects production to cease next summer.
Ryton is the second major car manufacturing plant to close in the West Midlands in as many years, following the closure of the MG Rover factory at Longbridge last year, which resulted in almost 6,000 job losses.