PSA Peugeot Citroen Deep In The Reds

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Europe’s second-largest car maker and GM alliance partner PSA Peugeot Citroen ended the first half of the year with its auto division 662 million euro ($800 million) in the reds, Reuters says.

This loss did not come unexpected. Global sales were down 13 percent in the first half year, Iran-heavy CKD sales were down a whopping 31 percent. PSA tried to stem additional bloodletting by announcing 8,000 French job cuts and a plant closure. That brought the company in the cross hairs of the newly elected leftist government.

PSA wants a 10 percent reduction of the French workforce. Peugeot says that would generate 1.5 billion euros in savings by 2015. €350 million are supposed to be saved through the cooperation with alliance partner GM.

Cross-town rival Renault expects European car sales not to return to pre-crisis levels before 2017.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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 2 comments
  • TheOtherLew TheOtherLew on Jul 25, 2012

    That damn Euro-English, making everything plural. A single red is sufficient for our good ol' fashioned American losers. (As for the European trade unions, that's another story ...)

  • Polar Bear Polar Bear on Jul 25, 2012

    PSA can learn a lot from GM. Such as how to sell millions of cars and still go bankrupt.

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