Chrysler announced today (1 November 2007) that they would cut between 8,500 and 10,000 hourly-paid jobs in 2008.Salaried staff would also be cut by 1000 and contract employment by 37 per cent. Four models will also end production in 2008. Victims of the cost cutting are the US-only Dodge Magnum and Chrysler Pacifica, as well as the Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible and Chrysler Crossfire, both of which are sold in America and Europe.This news comes only eight months after Chrysler announced 13,000 job cuts in an attempt to reduce the company's debt - weeks before it was taken over by Cerberus financial group.Reasons for this latest wave of cuts are put down to an unexpected downturn in the market.Tom LaSorda, Vice-Chairman and President of Chrysler, stated that "we have to move now to adjust the way our company looks and acts to reflect a smaller market."It is also claimed that the product cuts are a result of dealer requests, and the need to "focus resources on new, more profitable and appealing products."Chrysler has just completed a contract with the worker's union, United Auto Workers, to spend more than £7.5billion on products, plants and engineering before 2011.
