General Motors would like to continue manufacturing the Opel Astra in Germany beyond 2010, Focus magazine reported on Sunday, citing GM’s European chief, according to a news agency report.
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“We would like to stay in Germany. If one is seen as a local producer, it is reflected in higher market share,” GM Europe president Carl-Peter Forster was quoted as saying in an article in the latest edition of Focus out on Monday, Reuters said.
The news agency noted that GM Europe makes the Opel/Vauxhall/Holden/Chevrolet-badged compact in Bochum, Germany; Ellesmere Port in Britain, and Antwerp, Belgium. It is set to decide by early next year where to build the next generation of the Astra to be launched in 2010.
GM Europe is in the process of reducing its workforce by a fifth to end chronic losses in the region, Reuters said, adding that Forster said last month the company had no plans at this stage for more big job cuts or plant closures but the drive to improve productivity was not over.
GM’s European labour leaders have demanded assurances on job security before putting forward proposals for efficiency gains that would determine where GM Europe builds the next generation of mid-sized cars, Reuters said.
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