Opel plays down chances of closing plant March 1, 2006
General Motors said on Wednesday that media reports it might have to close an Opel plant in Europe when it launches its next generation of Astra cars were “highly speculative.”
“With respect to any individual plant ‘being at risk’, as stated in various media reports, it is highly speculative to draw that conclusion today,” GM Europe said in a statement.
The Financial Times quoted Opel head Hans Demant as saying one of its main plants might have to go and that GM should have cut more jobs when it got rid of 12,000 workers in the region.
Opel is GM’s largest brand in …
Opel says no plans for now to cut Astra output February 14, 2006
General Motors’ Opel unit denied on Tuesday that it was considering cutting back output of its Astra model in Europe, although it would not rule out such a step if demand faltered.
GM makes the Astra compact in Bochum, Germany, Ellesmere Port in Britain, and Antwerp, Belgium, and all capacity utilization at all these plants is “satisfactory”, it said in response to a newspaper report it was considering reducing Astra output.
“The company reserves the right, however, to align production capacity with customer demand as the model’s life cycle advances,” a statement added.
Opel works council chief Klaus Franz said that if GM …