Reuters says Stellaantis plans to divest two major German Opel plants. The factories would continue to work for Stellantis, but would no longer be owned by the company.
It would be Opel’s largest and best-known factory in its home base Rüsselsheim and a facility in Eisenach. The latter will in any case close its doors until next year due to the chip shortage, an unusually long closure for a car factory. Opel’s parent company Stellantis would like to talk to the unions about the plans with the two plants. These should lead to a more efficient and flexible organization and therefore more job security in the long term, the company reports to Reuters.
However, the same report shows that those unions are not exactly happy about the plans. They are especially afraid of what the move could mean in the longer term, as a way to move production more and more to France. The Opel Grandland, which shares its technical base with the Peugeot 3008, is already being temporarily screwed together in Sochaux, France. In addition, there are more unfavorable omens, such as the conclusion that the plants of the (now former) PSA would be more efficient than those of Opel.
On the other hand, Opel’s parent company has always insisted that the efficiency gains to be made will not involve plant closures. A job guarantee has even been signed in Germany until 2025, although that year is not even that far away anymore. These are certainly turbulent times for Opel, which was acquired by PSA in 2017 and merged with that company into Stellantis in 2020.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl