GM Europe to close Bochum plant

[Ruperts Trooper]

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/in...duction-bochum

It's not clear where the replacement Zafira, due 2016, will be built.

[Tetrabin1]

Seems Opel have problems

[Ruperts Trooper]

Over-capacity has been an issue for GM Europe since the financial crisis of 2008 - not helped by German trades unions and government trying to resist all cuts at German plants in favour of cuts/closures at European plants outside Germany.

[RaceSound]

They want to stop buliding complete cars there and reduce this plant to a auto parts manufacturing due to the remaining Euro-Crisis. But the works council of this plant fights against this plans.

[Ruperts Trooper]

But the works council of this plant fights against this plans.

Of course they are - they want to save their own jobs and sacrifice the jobs of other Opel workers in a different factory.

Europe as a whole and Opel in particular has an over-capacity problem - plant closure somewhere is inevitable.

[RaceSound]

yes, but it´s really unnecessary to close that plant, because they could for example move the production of the Mokka and Antara from the far east to Bochum. I´m sure GM can build other cars there. There are options tp save this plant. That can be cheaper, because the plant closure can cost GM several hundred million euros including through severance payments of employees and other costs

[Ruperts Trooper]

Why would they move production from a low-cost part of the world to a high-cost area ?

GM Europe has a huge over-capacity problem - partly because of resistance to plant shrinkage by German labour unions but also due to the ongoing economic crisis in the German-dominated Euro-zone, originally triggered by the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US.

[DmitryKo]

It's not clear where the replacement Zafira, due 2016, will be built.

The Zafira might end up as a badge-engineered 2016 Citroen C4 Picasso or Peugeot 3008/5008...


PSA-GM joint vehicle programs will use French carmaker's platforms

http://media.opel.com/media/intl/en/...a_peugeot.html

GM and PSA Peugeot Citroën Provide Further Details of their Global Strategic Alliance

Tasks and responsibilities with respect to the joint product development programs have been fairly and evenly distributed, in a commitment to enabling both partners to gain maximum advantage from the collaborative venture:

• The C-segment multi-purpose vehicle for Opel/Vauxhall, the C-segment crossover utility vehicle for the Peugeot brand and the B-segment multi-purpose vehicles for both carmakers will be developed on PSA Peugeot Citroën platforms.
• GM will lead the development of B-segment multi-purpose vehicles for both Groups.
• The updated B-segment platform for low emission vehicles, designed for the new generation of Opel/Vauxhall and PSA Peugeot Citroën cars in Europe and beyond, will be co-developed by both partners.