Fiat cuts 1,500 jobs at production plant in Poland

Fiat 500 is produced at Fiat’s factory in Tychy, Poland Italian carmaker Fiat has announced it will cut 1,500 jobs at its car plant in Poland. The decision to reduce staff at the manufacturing base in Tychy has been made to meet falling demands across Europe.  In a statement, the company said: \"Current market conditions and the negative outlook represent a major challenge for Fiat Auto Poland. The market segment for cars produced at Tychy - the A segment - has been the worst affected. The company explained to unions that the significant reduction in production volumes necessitated scaling back activity at the plant from three to two shifts. Those organisational changes will result in some 1,500 redundancies.\"
The news comes after figures revealed that the demand for cars in the European Union fell by almost 10 percent in October compared to last year.
The Poland plant makes the Fiat 500, Fiat Panda, Lancia Ypsilon and Ford Ka. Production is expected to fall from what was 600,000 in 2009, to 300,000 next year.
The company is expecting to lose $903m across Europe this year.