French Government: PSA Officially In A Tough Spot

It's official. France's PSA Peugeot Citroen is "in a difficult situation," says a government-commissioned report into PSA's financial situation. The report comes to the conclusion, says Reuters, that the company cannot be saved by cost cutting alone, and that "job cuts must not hurt its research and development capabilities." While the report does not make recommendations on how else the company is to be saved, it pretty much smells like bailout  à la française. "This study has shown that PSA is currently in a difficult situation, resulting both from economic and structural reasons," says the report. It doesn't let off PSA completely scot free, though. The company "should have considered its overall production capacity before deciding to close its Aulnay plant," whatever that means. The report, written by mining engineer Emmanuel Sartorius  for France's "Minister of Productive Recovery," Arnaud Montebourg, says that " PSA must urgently address the situation," but chides the company for having been too hasty in closing some of its plants. The report comes to the conclusion that "a restructuring is inevitable." PSA is 7 percent owned by GM. The alliance was sharply criticized by Montebourg, and there have been on-going rumors that it may be unraveling before getting going. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 680102