DCX to Cut 8,000 jobs in Germany

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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler's (DCXGn.DE) premium Mercedes Car Group division plans to cut more than 8,000 jobs in Germany, instead of 5,000 as previously expected, a German newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper did not cite a source for its report, but said plans for the layoffs could be presented on Wednesday.

The paper released the story in advance of publication on Wednesday.

A DaimlerChrysler spokesman declined to comment.

DaimlerChrysler and its works council struck a deal last year that guaranteed no worker at its German plants would be laid off in exchange for labor concessions that will generate 500 million euros in annual savings from 2007.

That means any job cuts have to come via buyout packages for those volunteering to go.

The accord covered about 160,000 staff on the German payroll as of last July. The group employed nearly 385,000 workers around the world at the end of last year.

Dieter Zetsche, who left the U.S. arm Chrysler to run Mercedes this month, declined at the Frankfurt car show to discuss prospects for reducing headcount in high-cost Germany via buyout deals or early retirement, as Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) aims to do.

This had to be discussed internally with the company's works council first, he said.

He stuck to the division's previous goal of generating a 7 percent operating margin by 2007, a target set by his predecessor who quit last month.

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