DaimlerChrysler Will Cut 800 Jobs in Germany

BERLIN December 5, 2002; The AP reported that DaimlerChrysler AG said Wednesday it plans to halt the production of cables for commercial vehicles at a plant in Germany, eliminating 800 jobs by mid-2004 in order to cut costs.

The Mannheim plant, with its roughly 10,000 workers, still will build trucks and buses but cables likely will be bought from outside suppliers, the German-American automaker said.

Employee representatives have agreed to the plan. The cuts will be made through early retirement or transfers to jobs elsewhere in the firm.

The company's Chrysler unit in the United States is in the middle of a 3-year rescue plan that foresees 26,000 job cuts.

But workers at its German plants making Mercedes-Benz luxury cars and other vehicles have been largely untouched by cost-cutting measures.