PSA to Close R&D Facility to Cut Costs

PSA Peugeot Citroen plans to shut down its R&D center in Meudon-la-Foret outside Paris as a cost-cutting measure.

The company expects to relocate the facility's 660 staffers to nearby PSA operations in Poissy and Velizy by the end of this year.

Reuters cites a company document indicating that PSA wants to sell the Meudon building. PSA disposed of €2 billion in assets in 2012 and aims to shed another €200 million this year.

The move is the latest in a series of cost-cutting steps by PSA, which is struggling to offset operating losses of €576 million last year. The company also intends to cut its workforce in France 17% by the end of 2014, in part by shutting down its assembly plant in Aulnay, which employs 2,500 people.