GM to axe 9,500 jobs in Europe

• Source: Xinhua
• [08:50 November 26 2009]
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US car giant General Motors (GM) is to cut up to 9,500 jobs in its Opel workforce in Europe, GM's new chief executive for Europe Nick Reilly said here on Wednesday.

Reilly, speaking at the interval of his meetings with German political and labour leaders, said GM will keep open all its Opel plants in Germany, but the job cuts should be carried out.

He added that the plan was to axe 9,000 to 9,500 European jobs and reduce output capacity by 20 percent as GM tries to restore the Opel and Vauxhall car brands to profit.

In September, GM agreed to sell a majority stake in Opel, which includes Vauxhall in Britain, to Canadian auto-parts maker Magna and Russian state-owned lender Sberbank. But earlier this month, GM made a sudden U-turn and decided to abandon plans to sell its loss-making Opel/Vauxhall unit.

The move infuriated the German government, which broadly supported the Magna-Sberbank deal, and angered the workers of the Opel plants, who were worrying about losing jobs.

Local media reported that details of the GM restructuring plan for Opel are expected to be released later on Wednesday.