Quelling fears among Opel’s domestic workforce, General Motors announced on Wednesday that the company will not be closing any of its German factories. It was previously believed that GM would shutter one or more of Opel’s four German factories.
Thanks $4.92 billion restructuring plan from parent General Motors, Opel’s four German plants will remain open. “We have transferred our European headquarters to Ruesselsheim. That shows how important this site will be for us in future,” GM Europe interim head Nick Reilly told Automotive News.
Despite the secure future of Opel’s Germany plants, the automaker’s other European plants still hang in the balance. GM plans to reduce Opel’s European capacity by about 25 percent, which could close as many as three factories.
GM’s turnaround plan for Opel has yet to pan out as the Detroit-based automaker waits to hear back on financial aid request from several European governments. Opel had secured funding from the German government, but that aid package was dropped when GM failed to sell the German brand to Canada’s Magna International.
