GM is remaining tight-lipped as to the identity of any potential new investors for its troubled Opel site in Antwerp slated for closure.
Fortnightly face to face meetings are taking place in Belgium between a consortium of Opel management, unions and the Flemish government, in a bid to secure new investment, while the groups also converse weekly.
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“There are working groups looking at investors until the end of September, but I can’t comment on the evolution of those activities,” a GM spokeswoman in Belgium told just-auto.
“At the moment this is confidential information. At this [time] all options are open, but I can’t comment on the content.”
In contrast to Opel’s other European plants, the Antwerp site will not be adding extra shifts before the traditional summer shut down, but will continue its existing limited working pattern.
“There is one shift from 07:00 to 15:00,” added the spokeswoman. “We will be having the usual shutdown in the summer from mid-July to mid-August.”
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By GlobalDataGM confirmed it would go ahead with axing 1,250 staff at the end of the month of around 2,300 employees at Antwerp.
Should no investor be found however, GM has estimated the plant could close by the end of the year.
Shuttering the factory is part of Opel’s sweeping structural reforms that will see the automaker slash capacity by 20% as well as cull around 8,300 jobs in Europe.
Parent GM announced last week it would now fund Opel’s plan in full, following the German government’s decision not to proceed with a EUR1.3bn (US$1.6bn) loan guarantee.
