BERLIN: German vehicle manufacturer Mercedes Benz said it had cut 500 jobs at its Brazilian plant in Sao Bernardo dos Campos near Sao Paulo and placed 7,000 workers on short-term leave.
A spokesman told AFP the 7,000 jobs were spread across all areas of production and the workers would have to take compulsory leave between June 1 and 15.
The layoffs come amid a deep slowdown in Brazilian auto and vehicle sales, with the economy in a fifth straight year of low growth with a contraction of around 1.0 percent forecast this year.
