Peugeot Citroen adds to car industry woes with 11,000 job losses

Peugeot Citroen, which cut nearly 3,000 jobs worldwide at the end of 2008, has announced today it is to slash a further 11,000 jobs.

The announcement comes as the company posted a 2008 net loss of €343 million (£308 million) after a severe fall in sales.

The news comes just 24 hours after America’s largest carmaker, General Motors (GM), announced it is to slash 10,000 jobs, and just 48 hours after Japanese carmaker Nissan said it will make 20,000 job cuts worldwide over the next 12 months.

The car industry worldwide has suffered as consumers cut back on big ticket items and many other companies worldwide have been making cut backs.

Peugeot Citroen, which is France’s largest carmaker, announced the job losses just a few days after Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s President, revealed a €3 billion (£2.7 billion) loan for the company and €3 billion for its rival Renault. However, the terms of the loan stated that they would not lay off French workers or shut French plants.

The loan has yet to receive approval by the European Commission.

Peugeot Citroen said it will make the job cuts through a series of voluntary redundancies and non-renewal of contracts, starting in its non-French European plants.

Christian Streiff, Peugeot Citroen chairman, said “in terms of employment, France is our biggest country. However, we have lots of staff in other countries which we are currently reducing quickly.”

However, the news is set to spark outrage in the Czech Republic and Slovakia who have which have accused President Sarkozy of protectionism.

Story link: Peugeot Citroen adds to car industry woes with 11,000 job losses