DaimlerChrysler’s designated chief executive Dieter Zetsche aims to cut around 8,000 more jobs in Germany without adding money to the buyout budget, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Tuesday.

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“Zetsche wants to do this via attrition,” the source reportedly said, adding the incoming CEO had told Friday’s supervisory board meeting he would not add to the EUR950m (US$1.14 billion) already set aside to finance 8,500 job cuts at Mercedes-Benz.


“I will not cough up more than the 950 million,” the source reportedly quoted Zetsche as saying at the meeting, when the board approved personnel planning that envisages reducing headcount in Germany by around 16,500 in all by the end of 2008.


Reuters said the additional cuts target 6,000 slots at Mercedes Car Group and 2,000 jobs at its commercial vehicles division.


The news agency noted that the IG Metall metalworker union members who sit on the carmaker’s supervisory board voted against the three-year personnel plan, arguing it relied too heavily on job cuts to boost shareholder value.

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“Labour representatives do not think this reduction in payrolls is possible because not that many positions will come open,” the source told Reuters, adding they had called on management to provide additional finance for buyout packages.


Reuters noted that Daimler agreed last year not to lay off any staff in Germany before the end of 2011 in return for concessions that will save it around EUR500m a year in labour costs. That means job cuts have to come via early retirement or severance pay.