Reuters (Paris) - French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will meet PSA Peugeot Citroen's Chief Executive Philippe Varin on Monday ahead of a government plan for the car sector due next week, the prime minister's office said on Friday.
The meeting follows Peugeot's announcement last week that it would cut 8,000 jobs in France and close an assembly plant at Aulnay near Paris in 2014 as part of an effort to stem operating losses of 200 million euros ($244 million) a month at its manufacturing division.
Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg, who has already met Varin and trade union representatives, is scheduled to meet PSA Chairman Thierry Peugeot on July 26.
Peugeot said in an interview with French daily Le Figaro that government criticism of PSA Peugeot Citroen's planned cutbacks have weakened the French automaker and even left it vulnerable to hostile takeover bids.
