Europe's volume carmakers are returning from summer breaks with their sleeves rolled up, ready to shut plants and lay off staff in what many see as an overdue push to cut costs as their U.S. counterparts did three years ago.
In 2009, when the United States rescued General Motors (GM.N) and Chrysler from bankruptcy on condition they close plants and slash jobs to rebuild profits, European governments responded to a slump in vehicle sales by offering car firms aid to do the opposite - maintain employment levels in the hope of a swift recovery.
Three years on, and with no sign of an end to a European economic crisis that has crushed demand for cars in core Mediterranean markets, French and Italian makers, along with GM's German Opel unit and Ford's regional division, face less resistance from politicians and labour unions as they present cuts as an alternative to risking outright collapse.
Governments, including the newly elected Socialists in Paris, no longer have funds to bail companies out, and some union leaders are calculating that cuts now can save more jobs later - though few expect workforces, which have in some cases already been substantially eroded, to take plant closures quietly.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/02/us-autos-europe-capacity-idUSBRE88106X20120902
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