German automaker Daimler AG announced yesterday (7th October) that it has joined GM subsidiary Opel and the German unit of Ford in making production cuts.

The Stuttgart-based company has vowed to keep production at lower levels in a move which may affect its German facilities and its Tuscaloosa plant in Alabama.

In addition, Daimler has confirmed that production at Sindelfingen, its largest German factory, will stop earlier than usual on 17th December and will not resume until January.

Meanwhile, Opel has announced that it will halt production completely at its Eisenach plant next week for a period of three weeks following the recent halting of operations at its Bochum plant.

Spokesman Andreas Kroemer has explained that although the company's Kaiserslautern and Ruesselsheim plants have not yet been affected, it is expecting to build 40,000 less cars this year than planned.

He said: "We're feeling the effects of the financial crisis. People are holding on to their money and not ordering cars."

Ford's German unit has also confirmed that production will be curbed and that it is laying off 204 part-time workers at its Saarlouis plant, although the company would not comment on how many cars will be put on hold.

The president of GM Europe stated in August that the firm would be focusing on the Russian and former Soviet countries' automarkets for growth rather than their western European counterparts.



Source:

Opel, Daimler, Ford curb production (07/10/08)
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVGtN33rwvavo-aiAs9jnfDPt6OgD93LK3V00