During her second visit to Germany this year, Mary Barra, Chief Executive Officer of General Motors, announced additional considerable investments. Barra confirmed that a new model will be produced at Opel’s traditional headquarters in Rüsselsheim by the end of the decade. “This SUV will be the brand’s second flagship alongside the Insignia,” Barra said. As announced in March, 245 million euro will be invested in Opel’s Rüsselsheim plant to meet future requirements. Furthermore, Barra declared additional investments of more than half a billion euro in the engine and transmission plants in Rüsselsheim, Kaiserslautern and Tychy (Poland), thus providing the impetus for Opel to move to the next stage of its powertrain offensive with fuel efficient engines and transmissions.
“Opel is of high strategic importance for GM. The product offensive with 27 new models and 17 new engines has enjoyed a very successful start. These additional investments will help the brand shine again and further strengthen our position in Europe. They are a clear sign of GM’s commitment to Opel, to Germany and to Europe,” said Barra.
Opel Group CEO Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann was delighted by the clear message: “General Motors and Opel are closer than ever before.” He continued to explain that Opel has General Motor’s full support. “The additional investments are further proof of the excellent cooperation.”
Both, Mary Barra and Dr. Neumann, pointed out that all necessary decisions were taken after a constructive dialog with employee representatives. They recognized the cooperation with the European employee representatives, the Industrial Metal Union (IG Metall) and Opel’s general works council, chaired by Wolfgang Schäfer-Klug.
Wolfgang Schäfer-Klug: "The package of measures is based on existing collective labor agreement commitments. The agreement is an important prerequisite for the continuation of Opel’s ride in the fast lane. It helps to continue our growth course with safe and competitive jobs."
Dr. Neumann also announced that a third shift will be established at the plant in Eisenach as of mid 2015. “This is good news for Eisenach as we are enjoying strong demand for the ADAM and the new Corsa.”
Mary Barra expressed her delight with the new Corsa, adding that 45,000 orders before the official market launch show that the fifth generation of the small car is well on its way to becoming a bestseller.
