Rüsselsheim. Groupe PSA and Opel have informed the general works council of Opel Automobile GmbH of the intention to discuss a potential strategic partnership with engineering service provider Segula Technologies to protect engineering jobs in Rüsselsheim and to overcome the workload decrease from third parties. The Segula Technologies proposal aims at creating a European engineering campus and Center of Excellence in Rüsselsheim enlarging the scope beyond the automotive industry and including fields such as rail and energy as reflected by their customer portfolio. An agreement on such a strategic partnership would include the takeover of vehicle and propulsion engineering facilities together with up to 2,000 employees of the Rüsselsheim R&D Center by Segula Technologies. Segula Technologies is willing to continue the protection against dismissal agreed until July 2023. The implementation of the potential strategic partnership is subject to successful further negotiations with Segula Technologies and the social partners as well as the approvals of various bodies including the supervisory board of Opel Automobile GmbH.
Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller said: “We have evaluated a solution in the context of a heavily decreasing workload from external parties in our R&D Center. Our duty and priority as a responsible management team has been to work hard on a project to safeguard highly qualified engineering jobs here in Rüsselsheim, while continuing to proudly develop our Opel future models and perform the tasks of the 15 Centers of Competence for the entire Groupe PSA. We will discuss this proposal of a strategic partnership with our social partners in detail.”
Laurent Germain, Group Managing Director of Segula Technologies added: “The potential strategic partnership is key to achieving our aim of becoming the world’s leading automotive solutions provider by 2023 with the creation of a core engineering center in Rüsselsheim, which’s scope would also cover new areas beyond the automotive industry to serve our customers worldwide. The recognised skills of the Opel engineers combined with Segula Technologies’ know-how, would allow us to set the standard and contribute to the development of the local economy in the long run, to meet our customer expectations in all our fields of activity.”
Christian Müller, Managing Director Engineering of Opel said: “Our R&D center in Rüsselsheim remains the heart of the Opel brand. Our engineers are committed to designing and developing future Opel models here, in addition to the takeover of global tasks for the entire Groupe PSA, e.g. through 15 Centers of Competence. Thus German engineering skills will benefit the entire company. At the same time, a strategic partnership would enable us to fully utilise our state-of-the-art engineering facilities and to overcome the overcapacity challenges ahead. We would give a solid future outlook to the engineering team of today.”
Contact
Harald HamprechtTel: +49 (0) 6142 7 54440Mobile: +49 (0) 160 9781 7333harald.hamprecht@opel.com
Michael GöntgensGroup Manager Corporate CommunicationsTel.: +49 6142/7-72 279Mobile: +49 160 48 28 317michael.goentgens@opel.com
Nico SchmidtAssistant Manager Corporate CommunicationsTel.: +49 6142/7-78 325Mobile: +49 151 21 54 53 87nico.schmidt@opel.com