Opel plans $15 billion restructuring; to axe 8,300 jobs
10 Feb 2010
The ailing German unit of General Motors, Adam Opel GmbH, will invest €11 billion euros ($15 billion) to restructure its operations in the next five years. The company is also planning to cut about 8,300 jobs in Europe, its chief Nick Reilly said yesterday.
About 3,911 of the job-cuts would take place in Germany, Reilly said.
Opel's plant at Bochum is likely to be the hardest hit, where 1,799 jobs will be eliminated. Another 862 will be axed in Russelsheim, 300 in Eisenach and 300 in Kaiserslautern.
Reilly also confirmed a plant in Antwerp, Belgium would be shut down causing loss of 2,377 jobs.
In January, GM said that it was shutting the Antwerp plant this year, eliminating 2,606 jobs, as it undertakes restructuring to return it profits (See: GM shuts Belgian Opel plant, cuts 2600 jobs).
Spain will lose 900 jobs, while more than 360 jobs are likely to go at Vauxhall's Bedfordshire van plant in the UK.
