General Motors is being urged to look at building models such as Chevrolet in Europe as German politicians concede Opel workers are “fed up” with endless specualtion of potential plant closures in the country.
Senior politicians in Germany have banded together in a bid to concentrate GM’s mind as the spotlight focuses on whether or not the automaker’s Bochum plants are under threat of closure.
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Nervousness is growing in Germany GM will look to downsize one or both of its Bochum sites following last week’s announcement Ellesmere Port and Gliwice would produce the next generation Astra.
North-Rhein Westphalia – in whose State Bochum lies – Prime Minister Hannelore Kraft has become personally involved visiting the Bochum factory yesterday and even offering to fly to Detroit to meet GM in a bid to retain production in the region.
“It is obvious GM tries to get a bigger foot here in Europe, so we have to talk about whether GM should build cars such as Chevrolet here in Europe rather than Asia,” Kraft’s spokesman told just-auto from Düsseldorf.
“The company has to sell more cars so of course, not to hold the status quo, [you need] more research and this strategy to become bigger you have to have a good environment and skilled workers. All this we have in Bochum.
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By GlobalData“North-Rhein Westphalia with 80m people, it is a region with a lot of customers for Opel cars. If they close down the plant in Bochum, that will be bad for Opel, for the brand. It will be negative for the chance to sell cars in Germany.”
The Prime Minister’s spokesman also criticised the endless speculation surrounding Opel’s plants in Germany that has rarely stopped in the past decade.
“For about ten years there are always discussions about whether Opel stays here in Germany,” he said. “That is bad for the brand.
“We have got to be realistic – we have to face it. What the people don’t want is this situation – people want to know what is up. Production will go up to 2015 said [Opel CEO Karl-Friedrich] Stracke, but people want to know what is up for the next years after 2015.
“This instability now goes on for years and people and families are fed up.”
