SODERTALJE, Sweden, April 3, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Scania (NYSE:SVCA):
Seventy percent of the employees of the bus chassis production operation in Katrineholm have voted in favour of working in Sodertalje. The 140 employees opposed to the move have today received notices of redundancy from Scania due to unavailability of work.
Scania has earlier decided to coordinate bus and truck chassis production in Sodertalje. This measure is a matter of survival for the company's bus chassis operation and provides the conditions for achieving a level of profitability comparable to that of trucks.
As part of the decision, all personnel employed in bus chassis production in Katrineholm were offered employment in Sodertalje. The offer, to which each individual has responded, includes a number of facilitating measures, such as travel allowances, removal assistance and adjustment of working hours.
Of the total of 740 employees in Katrineholm, 440 received an offer to take up employment in Sodertalje. Seventy percent of these have accepted.
Due to unavailability of employment, Scania has today been obliged to serve redundancy notices on the 140 who have turned down the offer.
Several individuals have already begun to commute between Katrineholm and Sodertalje. The main transfer of personnel will take place after the annual holiday, when bus chassis production has been relocated. The coordination project is scheduled for completion by year's end.
Three Hundred Remain in Katrineholm
Of the other 300 employees who will remain in Katrineholm, about 250 will be employed by Omni Katrineholm AB, the new bodybuilding company, which commenced operations on February 1 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Scania. The company is headed by Hans Hansson.
Omni Katrineholm AB has got off to a good start with a satisfactory inflow of orders from the Nordic markets, Italy and Britain.
About 40 more employees have been offered employment in DynaMate, the Scania maintenance subsidiary, which is currently being established in Katrineholm. Among other functions, these will take over the maintenance of premises and machines, tool design and manufacture, packaging processing and other functions from Scania.
Scania also plans to locate certain parts packaging operations in Katrineholm, employing a further 15 or so people
Scania is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. With 28,300 employees and production facilities in Europe and Latin America, Scania is one of the most profitable companies in its sector. In 2001, turnover totaled SEK 53,000 million and the result after financial items was SEK 1,500 million. Scania products are marketed in about 100 countries worldwide and some 95 percent of Scania's vehicles are sold outside Sweden. Bus manufacture takes place in Sweden, Poland, Russia, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
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