Peugeot appoints former Airbus boss as chief executive

PSA Peugeot-Citroen has appointed former Airbus boss Christian Streiff as chief executive to replace Jean-Martin Folz, who is retiring in January.

Streiff resigned as chief executive of Airbus in October after just three months in the role following disagreements over power sharing with directors of its controlling shareholder, aerospace group EADS. He joins Peugeot today (Wednesday November 8) but will not officially take over as chief executive until February.

Streiff had been the favourite to succeed Folz, although Jacques Aschenbroich, deputy managing director of French building materials group Saint Gobain; and Philippe Varin, chief executive of Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus, were also believed to be in the running.

PSA Peugeot-Citroen is shedding 10,000 jobs in Europe – one in 13 of its workforce in the region – and cutting capital spending by Û500m (£334.8m) annually as it struggles to reverse three years of falling profits. The job cuts include 2,000 already announced from the closure of its Coventry factory in the UK.

Folz has been chief executive of Peugeot since October 1997.