Continental cuts 2000 jobs, close Wetzlar plant

This was already planned by CDO. The company already laid-off 1800 staff by the end of January regardless off this new development. The integration of VDO ought to bring more savings than was planned. “We expect to see considerably more than € 300 million in synergies by 2010”, says Conti-Chairman Manfred Wennemer. (The Group was calculating with €170 million so far.) Conti is going to talk about the downsizing to labour representatives over the next few days. Auch ohne die Anfang Dezember übernommene VDO, die Conti zum weltweit fünftgrößten Autozulieferer macht, erzielte der Konzern 2007 Bestmarken bei Umsatz und Gewinn. Der Umsatz kletterte um sieben Prozent auf 15,9 Milliarden Euro, mit VDO hätte Conti 26,4 Milliarden Euro umgesetzt. Vor Steuern und Zinsen steigerte Conti das Ergebnis um 15 Prozent auf 1,84 Milliarden Euro. All VDO-Segments ought to reach the actual yield of 10%. Everything else will be closed or sold off, said Wennermer recently. He announced today that this will affect two fields. America will also see major restructuring in the coming months, Faz reports. The trade union IG Metall has warned the company. The restructuring should not be arranged by lay-offs and facility closures. A cutback in production jobs is elusive.