Chrysler to Lay Off 12,000

Chrysler today announced plans to cut up to 12,100 jobs, about 14% of its workforce, on top of the 13,000 layoffs announced in February. With the US auto market tumbling—sales are on pace for their worst year since 1998—Chrysler’s new owners, private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, hope to slim the company’s profile, Bloomberg reports. Four vehicles are getting the ax as well.

Chrysler, which lost $680 million last year, just inked a deal with the UAW on a new 4-year contract. “These are the next tough choices that needed to happen,” said one analyst. The cuts include up to10,000 hourly manufacturing jobs, 1,000 salaried employees, and 1,100 contract workers. The four discontinued models will be replaced with two new ones, and two hybrid versions of older models. (More Chrysler stories.)