General Motors’ struggling Opel brand may end production of the popular Astra compact model at its Rüsselsheim plant in Germany after the presentation of the next generation model in 2015, according to a report from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).
Citing unnamed senior labor representatives who are involved in restructuring talks, the German newspaper wrote that GM’s top brass in Europe is proposing to transfer production of Opel’s second bestselling model after the Corsa to its existing factories in Ellesmere Port, England and Gliwice, Poland.
Such a move would boost annual production of the Astra from 145,000 to 205,000 units in Ellesmere Port in a three-shift operation, and from 185,000 to 240,000 cars in Gliwice, the report said.
The reason why GM’s European branch is considering such a drastic option has to do with reducing costs, as the Ellesmere Port and Gliwice factories are said to be cheaper and more flexible to operate than Rüsselsheim, which pays its workers more. Since 1999, Opel has lost a total of $16 billion. In the first quarter of 2012 alone, Vauxhall and Opel racked up losses of some $256 million.
According to FAZ, Opel’s works council at the Rüsselsheim assembly plant had agreed to accept pay reductions and other cost-cutting measures of up to €70 million (US$92.5 million) to fund the investments needed to upgrade the factory for the production of the next Astra.
Opel works council chief Wolfgang Schäfer-Klug told the German daily that moving production out of Rüsselsheim would be a “devastating mistake” for the company. “This is as if Volkswagen would stop producing its Golf model in Wolfsburg,” said Schäfer-Klug.
FAZ reported that GM would take a final decision on the matter by the middle of May. Neither General Motors nor Opel would comment on the report.
Story References: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung via Deutche Welle
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