French car giant Peugeot-Citroen is to end production at one of its main UK factories with the loss of 2,300 jobs. Posted on 04/18/2006 2:22:28 PM PDT by M. Espinola
French car giant Peugeot-Citroen is to end production at one of its main UK factories with the loss of 2,300 jobs.
The factory at Ryton in Coventry will stop making the Peugeot 206 model next year.
The decision was given to union officials who had been summoned to a meeting with company bosses. Union sources said they had been fearing bad news but expressed shock at the scale of the announcement.
Derek Simpson, general secretary of Amicus, said: "This is disastrous news for British manufacturing. It is inconceivable that workers in France would be laid off on this scale.
"Weak UK labour laws are allowing British workers to be sacrificed at the expense of a flexible labour market."
The union said there would be an "enormous" impact on the local economy, estimating that every job at Ryton sustained another three in service firms.
Thousands of other jobs depend on the Ryton factory and the decision is yet another blow to the car industry in the West Midlands following last year's collapse of MG Rover.
Jean Martin Folz, chief executive officer of PSA Peugeot Citroen, said the plan followed a detailed study during the first quarter of 2006 by the group of its industrial cost effectiveness which had "clearly confirmed the weaknesses for the Ryton plant".
The company blamed high production and logistical costs which it said meant the group was unable to justify the investment needed for the production of future vehicles.
It said: "These internal factors, together with reduced demand and intense competition in Europe, have led the group to come to this difficult conclusion, having already reduced production at a number of other European sites at the end of 2005.
"The group's proposal is that production at Ryton is brought to a close in two phases; in the first instance the factory, which today operates two shifts, moves to a single shift in July 2006, with production not continuing beyond mid 2007. For the group, 2,300 jobs are affected.
"Having presented the proposal to its staff at the plant, the group will now enter into consultation with the trade unions.
"The group remains committed to its social responsibilities and will work closely with trade unions and Government throughout the coming months to provide a comprehensive support package for its staff and to help as many as possible to find alternative employment."
The thing looks like a new VW Beetle rear-ended by a Geo Metro!
C'est Le Frog!
I was being sarcastic, but the more I think about it, the more it sounds like a good deal for Mexicans, and for France.
They could restore France's Christianity, repopulate France will a good labor force, and offset the Muslim population explosion. Heck, they could prevent Europe from becoming Eurabia, and prosper at the same time. PLUS, they would be able to relearn their Spanish roots by visiting Spain during the ample holiday time they would have from working under France's labor laws.
Something like this 
Took me a year to build this beast.
Are you from Winnipeg? That would be a true statement if you live there.
Good job. You don't see many of those kits around. Do they still sell them?
Peugeot 500hp V12 907 GT
Bad idea. Once you hire a French student, you are never allowed to let him go jobless again for the rest of his life. It's like adopting a pussy. I mean kitten...
If you like driving a bar of soap.
Ooooh, that hadda hurt. No one walked away from that one.
Plan on spending $34k+ on the project.
BTW, if you want to keep it as original looking as possible, do NOT use fuel injection and serpentine belts on the nose. Shelby would barf.
Finally, if you want t really difinitive history of the Cobra, buy Dave Friedman's Book Shelby Cobra book. See page 105 of the Cobra that Lew Spencer and Bob Bondurant drove at Sebring in 1964. I used the same paint on mine as Carroll did (yes, they still have the same colors available today).
"The Snake" is almost ready to strike.
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