BEIJING, Jan. 25 -- German carmaker DaimlerChrysler Tuesday announced plans to axe 6,000 white-collar jobs, 20 percent of its administrative work force around the world.

    The company said it would save $1.8 billion a year after this and other streamlining efforts were completed by the end of 2008. Of the white-collar cuts, 30 percent would come from the management level.

    The move was the first major company decision taken by Dieter Zetsche, Daimler's new chief executive who formally replaced his predecessor J¨¹rgen Schrempp on January 1.

    "Over the last several years, we focused on our automotive business and started to streamline the core processes in our divisions," Zetsche said in a statement on Tuesday. "But to safeguard our future in this competitive global industry, we need to apply that same equation across all general and administrative functions."

    While declining to speculate where the cuts would occur, Zetsche said that the pool of employees affected was overwhelmingly in Germany, where the company is based. About 57 percent of the company's white-collar employees are in Germany, with 25 percent in the United States and Canada, and the rest spread throughout the world, he said.

    The move follows Ford Motor's announcement Monday that it would eliminate as many as 30,000 jobs over the next six years, and it further hardened Zetsche's reputation as a cost-cutter.

    Zetsche is credited with turning around Chrysler's fortunes in the US through job cuts and plant closures which saved $8 billion. "Our objective is to create a lean, agile structure, with streamlined processes that will unleash DaimlerChrysler's full potential," he said. Enditem

    (Agencies)