Metz (AFP)

"All employees have taken a blow to the head": the management of the Smart site in Hambach (Moselle) announced Friday the intention of Daimler to sell the factory, where production of models from the manufacturer was to start in the fall Mercedes.

"They are selling the Smart site and therefore they are looking for a buyer. It is huge. They are abandoning us," Jean-Luc Bielitz, representative of CGT on the Moselle site, which employs between 1,400 and 1,500 employees, told AFP.

"The company intends to start discussions on a sale of its French car factory in Hambach," Daimler said in a statement. In view of the difficult financial situation, the group also states that it has "implemented numerous measures to improve its cost structure durably and become significantly more efficient".

The Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, called on Daimler "to keep all the options open, including that of keeping the site".

"I hope that the future of this modern and exemplary site which has chosen the ecological transition, notably by producing electric vehicles, will be assured," said the minister in a statement, recalling that the factory "is a symbolic site of Franco-German industrial relationship ".

In March 2019, Daimler, owner of the Mercedes-Benz and Smart brands, announced the end of production of the small city car in France and its relocation to China from 2022.

Instead, Mercedes - notably an electric city car - had to be manufactured in Hambach from autumn 2020. To adapt the Moselle site to this production, Daimler had decided to invest 500 million euros. The works are still in progress.

- "We are released!" -

"Concretely, the Smart ends between 2022 and 2024 and we will not manufacture Mercedes on the Hambach site", called "Smartville" and the historic cradle of the small car since 1998, said Mr. Bielitz.

"It was promising, everyone was happy to work at Mercedes, to have the Mercedes logo ... and everything stops," says Denis Boos, CGT representative at Faurecia, plastics manufacturer. "All the employees took a blow on the head".

Employees had approved in a consultative referendum in 2015 the "2020 Pact", which provided for the return to 39 hours of weekly work, paid 37, with a reinstatement of 35 hours in 2020.

"All that we were promised, the hires, the resumption of activity, the sustainability of the site ... We can make all the efforts we want, the group drops us after having made the most of the employees", reacts Mr. Bielitz.

"We fought like devils for five years, we made sacrifices to have projects, we had projects and now we are released!" Denounces Mario Mutzette, CFE-CGC delegate.

According to the unions, management spoke of a "potential buyer", without specifying which one.

"We have to find a buyer who will have a model to manufacture. In the current situation, no manufacturer needs a new factory," sighs Bertrand Cederiva, another CGT representative.

- "A disaster !" -

The automotive sector is in crisis due to the coronavirus epidemic which has frozen vehicle sales.

"If Daimler cannot sell cars, who can?" Wonders Mr. Boos, recalling that the factory, since its resumption on June 2 after two and a half months of shutdown due to the Covid- 19, produces only 100 vehicles per day.

The CFE-CGC delegate, Mr. Mutzette, remains optimistic: "There are skills on the site, brand new installations. We are becoming specialized in electrics, that is an asset. It would be a shame to miss out". However, "in terms of social fabric, it's going to be a disaster!", He nuances.

With the increase in activity linked to the new Mercedes production, the employees of subcontractors, installed in the 70-hectare industrial park, were to be hired through a job exchange.

"The workforce was increasing," said Bielitz. The employees are stunned, according to the CGT representative, who fears "a PES (job protection plan), perhaps several".

An extraordinary social and economic committee (ESC) is scheduled for Wednesday.

© 2020 AFP