Are Peugeot telling the truth?

Peugeot's factory at Ryton, Coventry, is 24% more productive than its sister facilities in France, according to automotive industry analyst Professor Garel Rhys. The factory, scheduled for closure next year with the loss of 2,300 jobs, is Peugeot's third most productive plant in Western Europe: At the peak of production in 2003, it made 67 cars per worker, ahead of the Poissy factory, which will remain open. This is in contrast to Peugot’s claim that their French factory is more productive. Maybe more significant is the fact that Peugeot are opening a new factory in Slovenia.


If Professor Rhys’s analysis is correct one needs to look further for the real reasons for closing Rhyton. The union have laid the blame on more flexible working laws in the UK making it easier to close UK plants, and that may be partially true, along with the fear of political “fall out” in France, and the militancy of the French workforce. A further reason could well be the fact the Peugot sourced most of the 206 components overseas instead of taking advantage of the availability of local expertise and production, this is in contrast to companies like Toyota who are working to increase their locally produced content.  Finally the trend to move basic production to the Eastern European countries that have recently joined the EU has certain inevitability not only for the UK but for all of the higher labour cost Western economies. A small dose of “French style Nationalism” from the UK however, may not go amiss.