Belgian PU foam specialist Recticel (Brussels; www.recticel.com) recently announced plans to restructure its Recticel Automobilsysteme (Rheinbreitbach / Germany; www.recticel-automotive.com) subsidiary by 2015. As a result of the move, some 150 jobs of the company’s existing 178 positions are to be slashed. Recticel said it would start discussing the redundancies with the works council in the coming weeks to identify support measures, including the move to other Recticel Automotive plants.

The decision to make such a drastic cut in its workforce is directly linked to Recticel’s not having been nominated for the interior components production of Mercedes’ new C-class. As a result, the group’s Automotive Interiors division will cease producing the relevant interior components by 2015. The associated restructuring costs will be charged to Recticel’s H1 2013 results, the company said.