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Following the sharp fall in sales amid the global economic recession, domestic carmakers are scrambling to restructure their businesses. Daewoo Bus, the second largest domestic bus manufacturer, decided to lay off 30 percent of its employees and freeze salaries next year. Hyundai Motor and Renault Samsung also decided to issue executive and managerial level redundancies.
GM Daewoo will stop operating all three of its factories from Dec. 22 to Jan. 4. Josef Edlinger, vice president in sales for GM Daewoo, said on Thursday, ¡°We will postpone launching two of our new models originally slated for next year, to 2010.¡±
Ssangyong is offering voluntary retirement to contracted employees. The company has reduced next year¡¯s production goal to 90,000, from this year¡¯s 130,000, and will decrease production from early next year.
Daewoo Bus will lay off 237, or 35 percent, of its 670 production line workers, and 80, or 26 percent, of its 300 office workers while freezing salaries next year. Some 238 office workers went on strike in protest.
Daewoo Bus also plans to merge its factories in Busan and Ulsan. ¡°Because the sales of luxury buses dropped sharply in recent months, we are struggling to generate profits,¡± announced Daewoo Bus. ¡°Also, the average age of production line workers is 49, which makes restructuring somewhat inevitable,¡± added the company.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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