The first overseas trip of the new GM CEO, Mary Barra, has been to Rüsselsheim, Germany, home of European subsidiary Opel. Together with GM’s new president, Dan Ammann, who has been nominated to succeed Steve Girsky as chairman of the Opel Supervisory Board, Barra met with employees, toured the assembly plant and visited the International Technical Development Center (ITDC).
“I thought it was very important to reinforce in person GM’s commitment to Opel, its importance to the company and the need to accelerate our progress going forward,” Barra said. “I am also pleased to confirm that we will add another model to our Rüsselsheim plant,” the CEO added.
However, for competitive reasons, she didn’t provide further details about the new model. With 3,300 employees, the Rüsselsheim plant currently builds the Opel Astra and Insignia.
Mary Barra said GM is on track to achieve its goal to break-even in Europe by mid-decade, despite ongoing investments of €4 billion in Germany and Europe through 2016 that will result in the launch of 23 new products and 13 new engines.
“We must remain focused on the customer and delivering great, innovative products to the market on a consistent and sustained basis. That is how we will win here and all around the world,” Barra said.
By Dan Mihalascu
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