Opel employee representatives are stepping up their calls for government support and say that 6,000 jobs at the Bochum plant are at immediate risk.

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Bochum needs an investment of EUR420m according to information from the trade union IG Metall.


A regional union organizer told a local newspaper that the state of North Rhine Westfalia could lose up to 25,000 jobs if the Bochum plant were to close. He said that the EUR420m future investment is needed and that if GM can no longer afford that, then Opel would have to take out a loan. It would need government guarantees to back that loan.


The German chancellor Angela Merkel, is currently considering underwriting Opel. According to the Westdeutschen Allgemeinen Zeitung newspaper, accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) are currently preparing the necessary information that the national and state governments would need to provide guarantees.


The Bochum plant is currently not producing any cars. It has been closed for a one week production break.

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