Wednesday 29 July 2009

BMW: no firm decisions on team breakup

Following the news that they are to pull out of Formula One racing at the end of the season, BMW have revealed they are yet to decide on the future of the team’s facilities and employees.

Since taking over the Sauber team in 2006, the team’s operations have been split between a factory in Switzerland at Hinwil and the car company's headquarters in the German city of Munich. At the start of 2009, over 400 staff were employed in the Swiss facility and 250 were working for the Formula One team in Germany.

“Since we only made this decision yesterday, we cannot provide any more precise information,” said Dr Klaus Draeger, the member of the BMW’s board of management responsible for development. “We will develop and assess various scenarios and do our best to find a solution for the employees in Hinwil and the staff members involved in the Formula One project in Munich."

Although he made it clear it was too early to quantify the number of redundancies, Draeger was quick to reassure staff that they would make further announcements in the near future. “We are aware of the responsibility we shoulder and will inform the staff as soon as we can make a clear statement," he concluded.

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