Is PSA Close to Announcing Aulnay Plant Closing?

PSA Peugeot Citroen may announce next month that it intends to shutter its underutilized car assembly plant in the Paris suburb of Aulnay, Les Echos reports, citing the town's mayor.

France Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg met with local officials in Aulnay on Monday. Arnaud is scheduled to discuss the site's future with PSA CEO Philippe Varin today. The new administration has vowed to prevent plant closings and protect jobs. The Aulnay facility employs about 3,300 people.

Concern about the factory has been mounting since last June, when a leaked internal company document described plans to close the facility. The memo said no decision would be announced until after France's elections, which ended in May. Varin declared last autumn that the future of the factory was secure only until 2014, when the Citroen C3 supermini made there is scheduled for replacement.

PSA has said it plans to shed 6,000 jobs in Europe. In February, the company warned it might be forced to downsize its high-cost operations in France and elsewhere in western Europe if demand doesn't rebound. PSA's sales across Europe have dropped 15% year on year to 675,300 vehicles in January-May 2012.

Separately, PSA says it is considering selling its company jet to cut costs and raise cash.