The Munich truck manufacturer MAN has just reached an agreement with the works council to cut 3,500 jobs.
The future of the plant in Steyr remained unclear.
Now the matter could move.
Munich - The Czech commercial vehicle manufacturer
Tatra
has expressed interest in taking over the
MAN
plant in
Steyr
.
"We are ready to prepare a corresponding offer for Steyr", Tatra boss
Pavel Lazar
told Merkur.de * on Wednesday.
The location is interesting because of "the production technologies, know-how and experience of the employees".
The Tatra boss made it clear that the company was open to various solutions, including consortia.
The
MAN
board agreed a week ago, after lengthy and bitter negotiations with the works council, to cut 3,500 jobs in Germany.
Originally, the
VW
* subsidiary wanted to cut up to 9500 jobs.
In addition, the
Plauen
(Rhineland-Palatinate)
location
and the plant in
Steyr
in Upper
Austria are
still up for grabs, it said.
MAN: The company has so far kept all options open for the future of the Steyr plant
At its location near Linz,
MAN
, with around 2,200 employees, has so far been building light and medium-sized vehicles (TGL and TGM).
According to the plans of
MAN
boss
Andreas Tostmann
, production from Steyr is to be
relocated to
the Polish
MAN plant
in Krakow in the
medium term
.
For Steyr, the board continues to examine "all options, including those of a sale or a closure," it said.
With a view to the open future of the Steyr location,
Tatra
has been
pushing
for talks with
MAN
management and the Austrian federal government
for months
- but so far apparently in vain.
MAN: Tatra is hoping for improved market access to Austria and Germany
The Czech company builds
around 1200 trucks per year
at its plant in
Kopřivnice
near the borders with Poland and Slovakia, around 55 percent, half of which are military vehicles.
In addition to the Czech army, customers also include the military in Slovakia and Denmark.
The rest goes to municipal companies or construction companies.
Tatra boss Lazar hopes that a possible takeover of the plant in Steyr will not only provide additional production capacities but also an expansion of his model range.
So far, the Czechs have concentrated on the production of special vehicles in the heavy class from 18 tons.
In Steyr,
Tatra
could in the
future also manufacture light and medium-sized trucks and start series production of heavy trucks.
MAN prospective buyer Tatra in family hands
According to its own information,
Tatra
achieved a turnover of 227 million euros with around 1000 employees last year.
The main owner with 65 percent is the
CSG
(Czechoslovak Group) around the Czech entrepreneur
Michal Strnad
.
The remaining 35 percent belong to the Czech family company
Promet Group
.
* Merkur.de is part of the Ippen Digital network.