French automotive supplier body, FIEV, says Paris will not abandon PSA Peugeot Citroen as the manufacturer struggles in the face of declining European demand, although there is no immediate prospect of intervention.
PSA is currently negotiating with its unions concerning the closure of its Aulnay plant near Paris and a reduction of up to 8,000 staff as it looks to turn around its fortunes, particularly in Europe.
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“Honestly speaking, I don’t think the French government will abandon the company – they will do all what is possible,” FIEV president, Claude Cham, told just-auto at this week’s European automotive supplier association, CLEPA, Annual Reception in Brussels.
“They have already given a credit guarantee – my deep conviction is the French government will not abandon such a flag in the middle of the river – they will try to help them cross the river.”
PSA also received a recent boost when leading German analysts, Metzler Bank, said the automaker was turning a corner, despite posting losses of EUR5bn (US$6.5bn)
“Not as bad [figures] or as catastrophic as I thought,” Metzler Bank automotive analyst, Juergen Pieper, told just-auto. “It is a little bit better than expected on the liquidity side, on the cash flow side.
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By GlobalData“We always heard from PSA outflow is EUR200m [burn], so now it is hardly more than EUR100m per month. The Group operating loss of EUR580m or so is slightly better than expected. Two of the key results are not as bad as expected.”
The FIEV president also disagreed with the letter sent to Economics Redevelopment Minister, Arnaud Montebourg, by US tyre company, Titan CEO, Maurice Taylor, in which he appeared to question the productivity of some of France’s workforce.
“When you look at individual productivity of French employees, we are not so far [behind] and in some cases, we are ahead of England and Germany,” said Cham.
“In France we have to improve our global productivity, that is for sure, but its exaggerated when Mr Taylor says all French workers are lazy guys.”
