Belgian Opel plant becomes first casualty of GM Europe restructuring
Friday, January 22, 2010 at 12:35PM General Motors announced yesterday that the Opel auto production plant in Antwerp, Belgium, will close, throwing 2,600 out of work. The closing will be a major part of GM's restructuring in Europe, according to Nick Reilly, CEO of Opel/Vauxhall. More than 8,300 jobs in Europe will be lost, including 4,000 in Germany. Mr. Reilly said it was a necessary result of the "current business reality," one needed to secure a "viable future" for the entire Opel and Vauxhall operations.
2009 Opel Astra
Vehicle production in Europe in 2010 is forecast to be down by 1.5 million units from 2009 levels, forcing GM to reduce production by 20% to remain competitive. Talks are ongoing in Britain, where about 350 jobs are expected to be cut at a Vauxhall van-making plant. GM has still to present its complete restructuring plan for Europe but talks are of a $3.3 billion aid package.
The Antwerp plant has been part of GM, under the name General Motors Continental, since 1924. Chevrolet built its first cars there in 1925. Since then, more than 13 million cars have been built at the site, most recently the Astra three-door, TwinTop and station wagons. In 2009, 88, 873 Opel Astras were built there, almost all for the export market.
In Germany, the head of IG Metall union and Opel board member Armin Schild called the closing of the Antwerp plant a "declaration of war" on European workers and blamed GM for years of mismanagement.
Opel's union has called for a strike to support the Antwerp plant, and Belgian leaders are meeting with the president of the European Commission to discuss possible support from the EU.
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