Christian Streiff aims for a second tough lap of cost-cutting setting out a 100-day timetablePeugeot-Citroën has 100 days to come up with a radical overhaul to cut costs, improve quality and buy more of its supplies from low-cost countries, its recently appointed boss said last week. Christian Streiff, who has just become chairman, has appointed ten teams of ten managers to come up with plans to revive the business. Last year its profits plunged 82 per cent to €176 million euros amid declining sales in Europe and a restructuring that closed Peugeot's only British plant. Mr Streiff joined Peugeot after quitting Airbus after just 99 days at the helm because he had been blocked in pushing through a big restructuring. Yesterday he said: "I don't rule anything out. What we have to do is to radically reduce our fixed costs." It is only four months since Peugeot last mounted a cost-cutting programme, with the loss of 10,000 jobs in Europe - one in thirteen of all employees. The cuts included the closure of Ryton, near Coventry, which used to make the 206, with the loss of 2,000 jobs. The closure cost Peugeot €237 million, part of €855 million in charges it incurred last year. Heated discussionsMr Streiff said that he had been discussing cuts with French unions in the three months since his appointment, while he has been assessing Peugeot's problems. He said: "There is a high degree of understanding that we can't go ahead with the present structure." Peugeot's decision to close Ryton brought protests from unions, including a boycott of the cars, but sales in the UK were largely unaffected. However, sales for the whole group in Western Europe fell 10.5 per cent last year. The restructuring plan, which will be finalised over the next three months, will shape the company until 2010. Mr Streiff said that many more components for Peugeot cars, which are built in low-cost countries and in Western Europe, must come from cheaper producers. He wants a shake-up of the purchasing operation, with it reporting directly to him. He said that every new model to be produced must have a lower cost base than the one it is replacing. Peugeot is to have a concerted push on quality after being overtaken by the Japanese, Mr Streiff said. "We are Europe's second-biggest carmaker, but we are not in that position in terms of quality." He said that Peugeot had not suffered a drop in quality but that "the Japanese and the Koreans are now setting the standards". There are unlikely to be any more joint ventures between Peugeot and other carmakers after Mr Streiff said that cooperations were likely to deepen rather than grow. Peugeot has defined itself from other manufacturers to a large degree by forging a series of joint ventures with other carmakers to share development and production costs. Mr Strieff said that three or four of the eight joint ventures it has were closer than others, highlighting its engine development work with Ford. It also aims to build its business in China, where it has slipped from a 7 per cent share of the market to 3 per cent. The programme of cuts will include overhead costs, which have climbed 10 per cent over the past four years.