Rheinmetall cuts jobs, halts production in Germany

BERLIN - Germany's Rheinmetall AG, a maker of auto parts and weapons, said Friday it will cut 750 jobs and lengthen planned holiday production breaks, blaming weaker demand from car makers.

The Duesseldorf-based company said it is cutting 500 temporary jobs and 250 full-time jobs as it moves to trim euro50 million ($63.1 million) in costs amid the slumping global economy.

Part of that includes lengthening one-to-two-week holiday production breaks, "in some cases up to four weeks."

The company also said that its automotive production sites in Germany were planning to operate on shortened schedules through mid-2009.

Despite the slowdown in demand from automakers, Rheinmetall said its automotive unit was on track.

"We intend to and will emerge stronger from this crisis," said Chief Executive Klaus Eberhardt, adding it would not rule out further changes as needed.

Shares of Rheinmetall were down less than 1 percent to euro17.97 in Frankfurt.

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