Russia's largest carmaker, AvtoVAZ, has announced that it expects to cut 13,000 staff — more than previously indicated — at its plant in the city of Tolyatti due to falling sales of its flagship Lada.
AvtoVAZ slumped to a loss last year, and recently appointed CEO Bo Andersson is battling to revive business in a tough economic environment amid the crisis over Ukraine.
The Swede, who was given the job in November, was previously credited with turning around Russian bus and truck maker Gaz.
AvtoVAZ said earlier this year it would reduce staff by 7,500 in 2014 to help the business back into profitability, while the governor of the Samara region last week cited Andersson as saying that up to 8,500 will be laid off.
The latest forecasts by AvtoVAZ, in which French-Japanese alliance Renault-Nissan holds a controlling majority stake, indicate the cuts will be deeper.
"The total number of workers at the plant [in late 2014] will be about 53,000 people," AvtoVAZ said Friday in response to questions from Reuters.
It said that at the end of last year, 65,891 people worked at the Tolyatti plant in the Samara region, which is its main base.
Andersson said earlier in the year that the situation at AvtoVAZ was extremely bad and that people needed a "wake-up call."
Material from The Moscow Times is included in this report.
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