Automaker Opel, a unit of PSA Group, prepares to slow production at two German sites after the summer to help slash costs in response to reduction in sales, local newspaper Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Friday.
The company will trim production from 55 to 42 vehicles on hourly basis at its Ruesselsheim plant and from 37 to 30 vehicles in Eisenach, the newspaper stated, adding that output at Opel’s Polish site of Gliwice had already been slowed to 25 from 40 cars each hour.
In July PSA stated that it was successful in bringing the Opel-Vauxhall business back into the black following two decades of losses.
PSA purchased the loss-making manufacturer and its British sister brand Vauxhall from General Motors in 2017 in a $2.6 billion deal, and stated it aimed to restore Opel to profitability by 2020.
Opel refused to comment on the details of the internal strategy.
“Of course, we regularly adjust production planning in our plants,” Opel spokeswoman stated.
The production throttling is sparking issue in the workforce that fewer vehicles could be built in the long term, the newspaper included. But the management stated the works council has agreed on its future strategies for all European locations.
Early last month, the management reached an agreement with employees on investments in German plants and job protection measures until July 2023.
