European aircraft maker Airbus is in exclusive talks with a joint-venture between German defense group Diehl and French electronics group Thales for its cabins factory in Laupheim, Germany. Progress on the disposal comes after talks collapsed on the sale of two plants in France and three in Germany last month for which Airbus, owned by the European aerospace group EAD, blamed the strong euro and global credit crisis. “Teams on both sites will now enter into negotiations on remaining details and take the next steps including confirmatory due diligence to achieve a final agreement as soon as possible,” Airbus said in a statement on Saturday. Talks on the disposal are part of Airbus's Power8 restructuring program aimed at saving 2.1 billion euros ($3.25 billion) annually and cutting 10,000 jobs by 2010 as it suffers from delays to its A380 superjumbo program. However, the sale of the Laupheim plant would not be part of the drive to develop a new airframe for the planned A350 rival to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. The Laupheim site has 1,100 staff and produces cabin linings, compartments and air ducts for Airbus aircraft. “Through the acquisition of the Laupheim site, Diehl and Thales intend to further expand their cabin activities, thus becoming leader global suppliers in the field of aircraft cabins,” Diehl and Thales said in a separate statement. The breakdown of talks on other sites had cast a shadow over Airbus's hopes of transferring costly research into new materials for its future A350 aircraft to its suppliers. Only Airbus's Filton wings factory in Britain is on course to be sold, out an original six, a sale for which the aircraft maker is in talks with GKN of Britain. Teams on both sites will now enter into negotiations on remaining details and take the next steps including confirmatory due diligence to achieve a final agreement as soon as possible.”
