GM set to map out its job plan at Opel unit

GENERAL Motors Co will give unions its restructuring plan for the Opel unit today, with up to 9,500 jobs expected to be cut, the car maker's top official in Europe said yesterday.

Nick Reilly said the company would first inform "our people and our union colleagues" about the plan and did not specify when GM would go public with details, saying only they "will be released relatively shortly."

The number of layoffs is slightly less than GM's earlier estimate that between 9,000 and 10,000 jobs will be cut across Europe.

Opel's Bochum plant in northwestern Germany will remain open, Reilly indicated, saying: "Bochum remains an important part of the resources of General Motors in Europe going forward."

Reilly, who took over responsibility for Opel and sister brand Vauxhall earlier this month, declined to comment on the future of other sites, but confirmed that cuts will be needed.

"To enable Opel and Vauxhall to have a long-term sustainable future, we do have to go through a restructuring plan, and that means taking out approximately 20 percent of capacity and approximately 9,000 to 9,500 people," he said.

GM shocked Germany and other European countries earlier this month by abruptly canceling the planned sale of a majority in Opel to a consortium of Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc and Russian lender Sberbank.

German officials then demanded that GM repay by November 30 a 1.5 billion euro (US$2.2 billion) bridge loan that it granted earlier this year to keep Opel afloat as a buyer was sought.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday GM has completed the repayment.

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