EADS : the reorganization It is official, the European aerospace defense and space group, has just changed its name. As part of a major structural re-organization plan, EADS will take the name of its subsidiary "Airbus", with its four divisions being regrouped into three. The following is an interview with Marwan Lahoud, Strategy and Group Marketing Director. A full report will follow shortly... The information was confirmed on 31st., July at the European aeronautics, defense and space group’s current Paris headquarters. EADS will take the name of its subsidiary, Airbus, and reorganize its divisions according to their activities. The objectives for the group’s Head, Tom Enders being improvements in performance. Marwan Lahoud “In a stable or declining market, it’s necessary to consolidate, eliminate internal friction, internal competition, regroup and come together to be stronger. And so the consolidation of Airbus, defense and space is aimed at improving market access and cost reductions.” Until the change, EADS grouped its subsidiaries into four divisions: Airbus and Airbus Military, for commercial and military aircraft, Eurocopter for helicopters, Astrium for space, and finally Cassidian for its defense activities. Next year these four divisions will be reduced to three. Airbus will be responsible for commercial aircraft; Airbus Defence & Space will responsible for the group’s defense and space activities including military transport aircraft; and finally, Airbus Helicopters will govern civil and military helicopter activities. In Toulouse, which will soon see the installation of the head office, the group's employees, it’s a little difficult to get a single reaction from the group’s employees, who number 143,000 throughout the world !... Microtrot :… Woman: « No comment… ( OU : I have no comments to make, thank you… ) » Man : “ No, I have no opinion.” Man : “ I can’t say anything, thank you.” Woman: “No, I haven’t had time to look at the question, but I think that the name ‘Airbus’ is well known, and so, perhaps not bad. We’ll just have to see what happens.” In the world of finance, EADS becoming Airbus should not change much in itself; however, the reorganization of divisions could be beneficial for the new group, notably for the defense and space division... Financial Analyst "This division clearly suffered from a lack of synergies in the past, so together under one roof I think it can greatly accelerate and improve them commercially. Then of course there is the aspect of 'centralization', there will be resources which will clearly be regrouped, bringing cost savings too!" The implementation of this new structure should start gradually from January 1, 2014 and be completely operational from 1st., July next year. In 2012, the group produced a turnover of more than 56 billion euros.