FRANKFURT, July 9 (Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler (XETRA
CXGn.DE - News; NYSE
CX - News) will increase staff at its streamlined North American trucks unit this year to meet rising demand, the German-American group's commercial vehicles division head said on Friday.
"We will add around 2,000 people in the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) area," Eckhard Cordes said at an industry conference in Frankfurt, while employment in key market Germany should remain roughly steady in 2004.
He did not say where the NAFTA jobs would be added.
DaimlerChrysler's trucks division cut its U.S. staff from 22,000 to 11,000 while closing three U.S. plants during a recent reorganisation, Cordes said.
Cordes has pinned his hopes for a recovery on the North American market, which he told reporters was doing well in a generally better environment for global truck sales.
He forecast in March that 220,000 heavy trucks could be sold in the NAFTA region during 2004, one year earlier than previously expected. The overall market there has been stuck around the 180,000 level for three years.
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"We will add around 2,000 people in the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) area," Eckhard Cordes said at an industry conference in Frankfurt, while employment in key market Germany should remain roughly steady in 2004.
He did not say where the NAFTA jobs would be added.
DaimlerChrysler's trucks division cut its U.S. staff from 22,000 to 11,000 while closing three U.S. plants during a recent reorganisation, Cordes said.
Cordes has pinned his hopes for a recovery on the North American market, which he told reporters was doing well in a generally better environment for global truck sales.
He forecast in March that 220,000 heavy trucks could be sold in the NAFTA region during 2004, one year earlier than previously expected. The overall market there has been stuck around the 180,000 level for three years.
Full Story HERE