Vauxhall’s parent company General Motors looking to axe 9,000 jobs across Europe, according to CEO Nick Reilly

Nov 25 2009 by Gary Porter, Chester Chronicle

GENERAL Motors is looking to cut 9,000 jobs across Europe, although the carmaker is yet to reveal how this will affect Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant.

CEO Nick Reilly, who is a former a worker at the North Road factory, met with representatives of the European Employee Forum today (Wednesday) to give them a first look at the company’s plan to make both the Opel and Vauxhall brands viable again.

He says no final decisions have yet been made, but expects an announcement before the end of the year following a consultation phase with all stakeholders.

“We must create a sustainable, viable business plan for Opel/Vauxhall”, Reilly said.

“The competition is intense and getting fiercer every day. We have to reduce our costs. We must fight hard to keep our manufacturing operations in Europe viable.”

The carmaker has to reduce capacity by around 20%, and it is believed Germany will bear the brunt of the cuts, while the future of the Antwerp plant remains ‘uncertain’.

Reilly said the company’s restructuring requires about 3.3 billion euros of state aid to get through the economic crisis and to invest in new products and plants.

He added: “We all have the same objective: To create a viable, sustainable company. This is very do-able. I look forward to further cooperation with employee representatives.”