LONDON - AGCO Corporation, a farm machinery manufacturer based in Duluth, Georgia, said Tuesday it is closing its British tractor manufacturing plant, slashing 900 jobs at the company. <br>
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AGCO said the factory in Coventry, central England, will close in June 2003 and the company will move its operations to France in a bid to cut costs. <br>
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AGCO, the world's third largest manufacturer of farm machinery with sales of $2.5 billion in 2001, says the closure was part of a ``major manufacturing rationalization plan'' in Europe. <br>
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The firm says it had come under ``severe competitive pressure'' and that switching operations to Beauvais, France, would ``eliminate the negative impact of currency factors'' and lower production costs.
