Jobs to go at Renault
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• Renault is to make up to 100 staff redundant at its Dunstable plant by Christmas. The move follows 300 job cuts last December.
Renault blames the decision to make further redundancies on the recession in the UK truck market. It again raises the question of how long the Dunstable factory can remain open.
Renault is shortly to decide where the cuts will be made; it is understood that the plant's white collar workers will be the hardest hit. A spokesman for the company says it is hoped that the losses will be confined to 80 staff, which will bring the Dunstable workforce down to about 620 — with about 450 remaining on the shop floor.
Renault's UK truck sales are down by 30% although the company says it has retained its 6% market share. The Dunstable factory's output, which last year stood at 3,500 trucks, will not drop, says a spokesman.
RTI managing director Dieter Merz, speaking at the RB44 Reynolds Boughton launch in June, stressed that "there were never any plans to close the Dunstable plant", despite RVI president and director-general Jean-Pierre Capron's warning that the factory would shut if improvements in costs and quality were not made.
1=1 Leyland Daf is to close its Colchester special vehicles centre next year. The adaptation work will be transferred to Eindhoven. The decision puts 43 jobs in jeopardy, but Leyland Daf says "at least half' of the staff will be offered positions in Eindhoven.
A company spokesman says changes at Eindhoven, including the introduction of just-intime assembly methods and reorganisation of the factory floor, means vehicles can be adapted at the point of production. "Bringing in just-in-time means we can now accommodate non-standard building and can make changes to a vehicle without bringing the whole assembly process to a halt."
The new system will not restrict UK customers' choice at all, says Leyland Daf, but "will shorten the lead time for customers", says a spokesman.