General Motors has said that media reports it might have to close an Opel plant in Europe when it launches its next generation of Astra cars were “highly speculative”.
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“With respect to any individual plant ‘being at risk’, as stated in various media reports, it is highly speculative to draw that conclusion today,” GM Europe said in a statement cited by Reuters.
The Financial Times had earlier quoted Opel head Hans Demant as saying one of its main plants might have to go and that GM should have cut more jobs when it got rid of 12,000 workers in the region. Opel is GM’s largest brand in Europe.
Demant was quoted as saying the replacement for the Astra model – now built at four factories including Ellesmere Port in Britain and Bochum in Germany – may need fewer facilities, possibly leading to the closure of one of the sites.
According to Reuters, the GM statement said the current Astra was a market success, and the latest variant, the Astra Twin Top, was scheduled to go on sale this month.
“The company feels it is inappropriate to speculate on where the next generation Astra will be produced – a vehicle that will not go into production until the end of the decade,” it reportedly said, although it added that GM had to keep improving productivity.
