Friday, October 26, 2012

Europe Car Industry Faces Tough Times Ahead


The French government has bailed out Peugeot Citroen with a $9.1 billion loan, and in Belgium and the UK, manufacturer Ford also announced factory closures. Thursday saw talks between the French state and the car-maker Peugeot over the loan. In return for the bailout, the government wants a position on the firm's supervisory board alongside a workers' union rep, with the aim to avoid huge job cuts that will be all the more damaging with unemployment already over 10 per cent. America's car-maker  Ford, confirmed it is planning to shut two British sites next year with the loss of at least 1,500 jobs. Production of the transit van is being shifted to Turkey from Ford's Southampton plant in southern England. Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba reports from Paris.

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