Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Axe hangs over Citroën UK sales and marketing teams
Citroën is looking at axing its UK sales and marketing teams, with its £20m advertising account to be run from Paris, as part of major cost-cutting measures being considered by owner PSA Group.
At this stage, it is not known if the mooted plans will also affect its sister car marque Peugeot. Euro RSCG handles the advertising account for both marques, while OMD handles media planning and buying.
The move is part of global proposals being tabled as part of PSA Group's restructuring programme, CAP 2010, which was launched last year and is aimed at reducing costs within the company and boosting sales.
Senior sources at Citroën claim that following the consolidation, Citroën UK's marketing director Ian Hughes is likely to be moved to company headquarters in France and join a much smaller Europe Middle-East and Africa team.
A PSA Group spokesman confirmed that marketing activities would be considered as part of the CAP 2010 plan, but added any changes still needed to be finalised.
"PSA Peugeot Citroën has marketing operations in 150 countries. As part of our CAP 2010 plan, our marketing approach will give Peugeot and Citroën a real boost and we will look at our current marketing approaches," the spokesman says.
"We anticipate reducing marketing operations, though discussions on this are ongoing and no conclusions have been reached."
The CAP 2010 plans also includes the target of reaching a 30% reduction in overheads by 2010, supported by around 7,000 job cuts across the group.
DATED: 08.10.08
FEED: AW
