INTERNATIONAL: Around 2 500 jobs will be lost worldwide in a reorganisation of the Mobility division announced by Siemens on July 23. Rail vehicle manufacturing will be concentrated at three centres of competence in Germany and Austria, and the company will dispose of the former CKD Dopravní plant at Praha-Zlicín.
Aluminium vehicles are to be produced at Krefeld-Uerdingen, where 220 jobs will be lost when the Combino rectification programme comes to an end. Steel vehicles will be manufactured in Wien, and loco-motives in München.
Siemens Mobility will give up its Praha production facility by the end of the 2009 financial year. This employs around 950 staff, and Mobility division CEO Hans-Jörg Grundmann said 'we have a number of very well trained specialists and can also imagine selling the factory to a reputable company.'
Siemens blamed its excess of capacity on the growing proportion of customers in markets such as China, who increasingly require the involvement of local partners. Production locations close to the customer, including the light rail plant in Sacramento, are to be retained, and more production work will be outsourced to subcontractors, as is done in the automotive industry.
'In the necessary reorganisation process, excess capacity in our factories will be eliminated. This will ensure the long-term competitiveness of the Mobility division', said Grundmann.