Opel is distancing itself from reports it could move some Astra production from Russelsheim to Gliwice in Poland as it looks to address over-capacity issues in Europe.
German media are claiming General Motors Europe president, Karl-Friedrich Stracke wrote a document to staff outlining details of the switch in production and although GM Europe concedes a letter was written, it maintains it was not about the Astra issue.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
“Karl-Friedrich Stracke wrote a letter, but it was not about this specific issue,” an Opel spokesman told just-auto from Germany. “He was more or less writing in the overall letter on the issue of sales and what we are going to do in the up-coming weeks to push sales in Germany for example.
“He did not elaborate on things like how we will work…on capacity for example. The discussions we had in Germany, we have had about a slow start of sales. It was not in this letter.”
Opel noted nonetheless it is “of course true” management, the works council and the supervisory board are engaged in discussions to address how best to return the automaker to profitability.
There has been much speculation of late Opel could axe either its Bochum Astra plant in Germany or its UK Vauxhall manufacturing site at Ellesmere Port as the automaker looks to find ways – common to most European producers – of massive over-capacity.
“There is an agreement between the works council and our side we will not communicate…before there is real news to announce,” added the Opel spokesman.
Opel is declining to put any timetable on when it might reveal its turnaround plan.
