Magna plans drastic job cuts with Opel takeover
22 Sep 2009
Canadian auto parts make Magna is set to cut more than 4,000 jobs at Opel in Germany when it takes over the ailing automaker from US auto giant General Motors according to a report dated Tuesday.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) said nearly 11,000 jobs will be lost out of a total of 45,730 as a result of the company's strategic plans for GM's European operations. The plans will affect all sites including the politically sensitive closure of the Antwerp facility in Belgium.
The report said 4,116 jobs will be cut in Germany – 3,300 on the production line and 800 in administration – out of a total workforce of 24,700.
All four German Opel plants will however continue to function despite the job cuts, but the Bochum site will shed about 2,200 jobs as production moves to Austria.
With the closure of the Antwerp facility, 2,517 workers will lose their jobs, the report said and an additional 2,090 jobs will go in Spain while 1,373 jobs will be lost at the Vauxhall plant in the UK and 437 in Poland.
Earlier this month, GM announced it would sell a majority stake in Opel to Magna and its partner, Russian state-owned lender Sberbank.
