Mumbai: DaimlerChrysler has announced a plan to close all or part of four plants and eliminate 13,000 jobs in North America as part of a restructuring programme for Chrysler.

The restructuring plan was approved by the DaimlerChrysler supervisory board, which met at Chrysler's headquarters here.

DaimlerChrysler, which reported earnings of nearly $7.3 billion last year, despite a loss of nearly $1.5 billion for Chrysler, said it was leaving all options open for the future of its struggling Chrysler Group

Chrysler said it would close its Newark, Delaware assembly plant in 2009, as well as a parts distribution centre in Cleveland.

It also will eliminate one shift of workers at two truck plants in Warren, Michigan, and St. Louis.

In all, Chrysler said 13,000 employees, or 16 per cent of its work force, would lose their jobs by the end of 2008, including 11,000 hourly workers, it said.

Of those hourly workers, 9,000 will lose their jobs in the US and 2,000 in Canada. Another 2,000 white-collar workers will see their jobs eliminated over the next two years.

The statement comes about four months after DaimlerChrysler sent the first signals that Chrysler's future might not be secure.

In October lat year, DaimlerChrysler chief financial officer Bodo Uebber said the company would not rule out spinning off Chrysler, which merged with Daimler-Benz in 1998 to form DaimlerChrysler. Company executives, including Zetsche, quickly insisted that scenario was not under consideration

"The Board of Management intends to consider other, more far-reaching strategic options with partners" as part of the restructuring, the company said in a statement. "No option is being excluded in the interest of arriving at the best possible solution for the Chrysler Group and DaimlerChrysler as a whole," it added.