GM Getting Serious About Cutting Costs at Opel

GMGMUnited States of America, 1998 > present8 models
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says that if it cannot make a deal with Opel'sOpelGermany, 1863 > present85 models
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German labor union by the end of February, it will close its Bochum factory on January 1, 2015, and end ZafiraOpel Zafira Gen.3 [C]Germany, 2011 > present77 versions
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production a year early. The Bochum factory was originally scheduled to close in 2016. Shuttering the plant would cause 3,100 workers to lose their jobs. 

This is just the latest attempt by GM to control losses from its Opel subsidiary but shows that it is beginning to become desperate. 

"I have asked the Opel management and labor to reach a solution in February. Our Germany Plan must then be finalized."

"The contract expires at the end of 2014. Production of the Zafira in Bochum would then end and all assembly cease as of January 1, 2015," said GM Europe leader and company vice chairman Steve Girsky to the union in a letter obtained by Reuters. 

The IG Metall union responded by saying: "The threat to cease all production in Bochum at the start of 2015 is unacceptable."

GM's sales in Europe fell 8.2% in 2012, and its market share fell 0.2% to 8.5%. 

GM has been trying to find a solution to Opel losing money with earnest for at least the past year. It forced CEO Karl Friedrich Stracke to step down and Vice Chairman Girsky took his place on an interim basis to right the ship. There had been rumors that GM was trying to sell Opel to PSA PeugeotPeugeotFrance, 1882 > present120 models
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-CitroënCitroënFrance, 1919 > present94 models
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, but that deal never happened.

Source: Automotive News Europe