Renault's Romanian unit Dacia to cut 1,000 jobs by end-2005

AFX News Limited
BUCHAREST (AFX) - Romanian car maker Dacia is set to cut a further 1,000 jobs by the end of the year, owing to restructuring of a factory in the south of Romania, a trade union source said. Formerly state-owned Dacia, which was taken over by French group Renault SA in 1999, has made 15,000 workers redundant since the change of ownership.

'The casting and forgery divisions will experience a slight reduction in output, while other services will be closed, according to a new multinational strategy from Renault,' Dacia trade union representative Nicolae Pavelescu told Agence France-Presse. The job losses will be at a factory in Pitesti. Renault employs 12,100 people in Romania and has invested 400 mln eur in modernising the factory and plans to invest a further 215 mln eur to build a new gearbox assembly line.

The extended operations are forecast to generate sales of more than 2 bln eur by 2008, according to the head of Renault in eastern Europe, Francois Fourmont. For 2005, Dacia-Renault has forecast sales of more than 1 bln eur in 2005. The company expects to sell 175,000 of its affordable model, the Logan, with 60,000 earmarked for export markets.

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