General Motors Europe will cut production of Opel/Vauxhall Astra (C-segment) and Vectra (D-segment) cars by around 9% in 2007 as the newly-launched B-segment Corsa cannibalises sales of the Astra.
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German industry magazine Automobilwoche cited secret plans that said that combined Astra and Zafira production would fall to 690,000 units in 2007, from the 750,000 originally planned. Capacity for the two models is currently 900,000 units.
GM Europe has already cut the third shift at its Ellesmere Port near Liverpool in the UK and is planning more than 30 days’ worth of ‘collective free shifts’ at Bochum (Germany) and Antwerp (Belgium). It is also reported to be considering reducing the working week at those two plants to 28.5 hours, and/or cutting a shift at Antwerp and axing a further 1,000 jobs.
Five plants are currently in the running to build the next generation Astra, but as the combined capacity of these factories is 1.1m vehicles, and GM only needs 750,000 units a year, one of these plants is likely to be closed by 2010, according to the head of the Bochum plant supervisory board, Rainer Einenkel. A decision is due by mid-2007.
An un-named source also suggested that flexibility at Ruesselsheim is so high, that it is not unfeasible that the Astra could be built there, placing a sixth plant in the running to build the next generation model.
Vectra production would be cut to 127,000 from 144,000, but in a worst case scenario this could actually fall to 110,000 units.
This reflects the fall in popularity of D-segment models from ‘mainstream’ automakers in Europe as buyers move upscale to similar-sized models from ‘premium’ brands such as Audi and BMW. This trend has also hit saes of Ford of Europe’s Vectra-rivalling Mondeo and has prompted Nissan to not even sell the next generation of its slow-selling D-segment Primera in some west European markets (including the UK), according to a recent report.
Both the Astra and Vectra models are past their life cycle peak but the next Astra is not due until the end of 2009. The next Vecra is due at the end of 2008.
Corsa production is, however, more positive. GM expects to built 375,000 Corsas in 2007 – 190,000 in Zaragoza (Spain) and 185,000 in Eisenach (in the former east Germany). This is up from 344,000 units this year.
One way to reduce the impact of reduced Astra production would be to build models for other GM brands on the same platform (known as Delta). A Saab 9-1 and/or a comparable Cadillac model are possibilities, according to Automobilwoche.
