Fiat has denied reports that it plans to slash 18,000 jobs by closing or scaling down 10 factories in Europe in a possible takeover of General Motors’ Opel unit.
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“With reference to the Reuters report which cites the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on the Fiat-Opel plan, the Fiat Group clearly states that it is not information generated by Fiat and does not form part of any plan prepared by Fiat,” the firm said in a statement.
Citing a sensitive internal document, the Germany daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) had said Fiat would want to cut 18,000 jobs, closing or scaling down 10 factories in Europe if it reaches a deal with GM.
The document was reportedly titled ‘Project Football’ and dated 3 April. It said the jobs would be cut from the 108,000 total at Opel, GM Europe and Fiat, or 16.6%, if a deal was reached.
British Vauxhall assembly lines in Luton and Ellesmere Port, as well as the Opel factory in Antwerp, Belgium, would be among those shut down, along with Fiat factories in Pomigliano, near Naples, and in Termini Imerese, Sicily, the reports said.
Three Opel plants producing gearboxes – Bochum, Kaiserslautern and Ruesselsheim, Germany – would also be partially shut down, FAZ said.
Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne on Monday presented his plan to take over Opel, a GM subsidiary, to sceptical German government ministers.
He said his group had no plans to close any of Opel’s four factories in Germany, while adding in an interview with the German daily Bild: “The workforce of course has to be reduced” in order to boost productivity.
Reuters noted that Marchionne late last month did not rule out closing factories in Italy.
“I cannot give a reply, either positive or negative,” he told a journalist when asked whether he would give a pledge that no factories would close in Italy.
