Uwe Hochgeschurtz
The Opel boss rules out the closure of plants in Germany.
(Photo: dpa)
Rüsselsheim The new Opel boss Uwe Hochgeschurtz has promised to keep the carmaker’s locations in Germany. “We keep all works. Rüsselsheim, Eisenach and Kaiserslautern are and will remain our factories in Germany, ”said Hochgeschurtz of the“ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ”(Monday). However, one has to work on competitiveness over and over again.
Previously, there had been speculations about further cuts at the manufacturer belonging to the Stellantis group. Hochgeschurtz emphasized: “We are keeping our contracts.” It is a mystery to him why some are questioning Opel’s future viability. The car manufacturer with its 15,000 employees is “more fit for the future than ever before in this millennium”.
At the same time, the manager made it clear that Opel had to keep changing. An electric car needs less and different work to develop and manufacture than a model with a combustion engine. “We will need fewer jobs with mechanical skills, but more that have to do with chemistry or software.”
The plant in Eisenach is currently causing concern. There the production will stand still until the end of the year due to missing chips. Hochgeschurtz rejected the concern that production might not be restarted. “Our plan remains unchanged to resume production at the beginning of next year, provided the supply situation allows,” he told the “FAZ”.
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Opel is the only German brand in the Stellantis car company, which was created at the beginning of the year from the Peugeot parent company PSA and Fiat-Chrysler. Thousands of jobs have been cut since PSA’s takeover in August 2017, with layoffs not being possible until summer 2025.
More: “Big mistake” – Opel works council again railed against the end of toolmaking.