In a difficult context for the automotive sector, which is going through an expensive transformation towards electricity at a time when the drop in sales and the commercial uncertainty affect profitability, Opel announced Tuesday January 14th to want to cut 2,100 additional jobs in Germany with a early retirement plan.
Employees born before 1963 can opt for early retirement. The manufacturer also excludes the layoffs until July 2025, as part of an agreement with the unions which should allow “A new and marked improvement in our competitiveness”said Michael Lohscheller, owner of Opel, in a statement. The historic Rüsselsheim factory will also benefit from investments to produce new models there in 2021, the company said.
The German automaker, a subsidiary of PSA engaged in a vast restructuring, has since its takeover in 2017 already eliminated some 6,800 jobs in reaction to a drop in demand which has led to overcapacity in its factories.
Extensive restructuring
Restructuring occurs when the “Increasingly stringent CO2 emission standards are causing major upheavals in the automotive industry”, Opel notes. The European automotive industry is making a forced march into the electrification of powertrains, forced to quickly reduce its CO2 emissions to meet the limits imposed by the European Union from this year.
Opel was straightened in less than eighteen months after its acquisition by PSA in 2017 to post profits after twenty years of losses. But the manufacturer has seen its share of the European market decline for several years and wants to lower its production costs. In recent months, the major German automotive groups have already announced some 40,000 job cuts to save money while production in the country of the sector, long pillar of German industry, fell in 2019 to its lowest level for 22 years.
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