Factbox: Europe's embattled auto sector plans plant closures and layoffs

Feintool International Holding AG

23/12/2024 12:19

(Adds Volkswagen)
       Dec 23 (Reuters) - Automotive companies across Europe
have announced plant closures and big layoffs as they struggle
with weak demand, high costs, competition from China and a
slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles.    
    Below are layoffs and site closures announced in recent
months, beginning with the latest:
    
    VOLKSWAGEN
    Europe's top carmaker Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE  agreed a deal
with unions on Dec. 20 to cut 35,000 jobs and to reduce factory
output by almost a quarter in Germany, though there no immediate
plant closures or layoffs. 
        Volkswagen said earlier in December that its Audi plant
in Brussels will 
    cease production
     by Feb. 28, after the company found no alternatives to
closure.
  
    
    FEINTOOL 
    Switzerland's automotive supplier Feintool  FTON.S  on Dec.
3 announced it will close one of its sites in Germany and lay
off as many as 200 people.
    
    VALEO
    French car parts supplier Valeo  VLOF.PA  will cut around
1,000 jobs in Europe, sources told Reuters on Nov. 27, adding
that the restructuring push will result in the closure of two
French plants. 
    
    STELLANTIS 
    Carmaker Stellantis  STLAM.MI  on Nov. 26 announced plans to
shut its Vauxhall van factory in Luton, England, putting more
than 1,000 jobs at risk. 
    It has repeatedly halted assembly operations at its main
plant in Italy's Mirafiori due to low demand, in particular for
the electric version of Fiat 500. 
    The company said it had no plan to shut plants in Italy. 
      
    BOSCH
    Bosch  ROBG.UL , the world's biggest auto parts supplier,
plans to cut 5,500 jobs by 2032 in its cross-domain computer
solutions and steering divisions, mostly at German sites, and
reduce work hours for some employees, it said on Nov. 22.
    
    FORD 
    U.S. automaker Ford  F.N  on Nov. 20 said it would cut 4,000
jobs, primarily in Germany and Britain, representing 14% of its
European workforce. 
    
    MICHELIN 
    French tire maker Michelin  MICP.PA  will shut two sites in
western France, affecting about 1,250 jobs, it said on Nov. 5.
    
    SCHAEFFLER
    German machine and car parts maker Schaeffler  SHA0.DE  said
on Nov. 5 it planned to lay off 4,700 jobs in Europe, mostly in
Germany, after its operating profit was almost halved in the
third quarter.
    The restructuring effort would include closures of the
production facilities in Austria and Britain. 
    
    DAIMLER TRUCK
    Daimler Truck  DTGGe.DE , the world's largest truckmaker,
said on Aug. 1 it will cut hours and impose a job freeze for
employees in its German business.
    

 (Reporting by Reuters bureaux, compiled by Andrey Sychev in
Gdansk; editing by Jason Neely and Bernadette Baum)
 ((andrey.sychev@thomsonreuters.com;))