Oh dear.

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Wooscary
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Oh dear.

Post by Wooscary »

Sorry if this has already been posted.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/ms/p/gnm/op/sEB ... op-stories" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Philip Chidlow
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Re: Oh dear.

Post by Philip Chidlow »

Terrible for the workers and their families. (noted in this thread )

Their ranks are probably soon to be joined by other car workers...

from the FT:

Peugeot’s decision to close Aulnay could also open the way to a series of plant closures across Europe.
Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of France’s Renault and its Japanese alliance partner Nissan Motor, said in March that “the day somebody’s able to restructure heavily in Europe, it’s going to force all carmakers to do it”.
Indeed, Aulnay’s closure on its own will do little to address overcapacity in France, much less western Europe.
The plant produced 135,800 cars last year, just 4 per cent of the 3.3m capacity installed in France’s car plants, according to an estimate from AlixPartners, a consultancy.
It estimated France’s car plants were running at about 60 per cent capacity, well below the 75 to 80 per cent seen in the industry as a benchmark for a profitable operation. In North America, where a US government-led restructuring of the domestic car industry saw several factories close, plants operate at about 85 per cent capacity.
Renault is better off than Peugeot because far more of its cars are sold outside Europe, but it could be forced to act if demand in emerging markets slows.
Among non-French producers, Fiat’s chief executive Sergio Marchionne said last week that Fiat would have “one plant too many” in Italy if it was unable to secure concessions from its workforce needed to build cars competitively in its home country for export to the US.
General Motors is to stop making cars at a German plant in 2016, while Ford is also considering closing a European plant.
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Willy
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Re: Oh dear.

Post by Willy »

I find this rather overdue to be honest. PSA has been probably the slowest growing EU auto manufacturer for years, and the Rennes plant makes its least successful cars - the large family car/compact exec. Nobody really buys these big cars anymore, and its a phenomenally competitive segment especially against the established fleet crowd - Insignia, 3-series, Passat etc. Obviously Rennes is a relatively modern factory - but it has "Linwood syndrome" in that it was built in a welfare-sink area for social reasons, but logistically very difficult when the rest of France's heavy industry and manufacturing is established around the heavily industrialised east. There's massive consolidation having to go on in Europe right now as the EU has stagnated at best for the past few years, and there's also the influx of new quality models and manufacturers moving into the eastern bloc with shiny new factories and cheap labour. 60% capacity for France's auto factories is dire - Cowley, Ellesmere Port and Burnaston in the UK all operate a full three shift pattern and I wouldn't be surprised if we saw more of this news abroad. Not a great start for Monsieur Hollande!
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