Germany will do everything it can to protect Opel plants and jobs in the nation if Peugeot maker PSA purchases the General Motors company, Chancellor Angela Merkel stated on Friday, highlighting the political difficulties the automakers face in sealing an offer.
Her comments came as employees’ agents at German-headquartered Opel said they were planning to hold talks with PSA, as long as commitments to projects and investments were supported – a few of which extend beyond 2020.
General Motors and PSA stated they remained in talks over a potential deal for the French automaker to buy GM’s European arm Opel, triggering issues in Germany and Britain of job losses. Germany represent about half of Opel’s 38,000 personnel, while 4,500 remain in Britain where Opel runs as Vauxhall.
Europe’s automobile industry has been dogged for years by overcapacity and experts think cuts will be required for a deal to make sense. Two sources near PSA informed Reuters on Thursday that job and plant cuts became part of the tie-up talks, with the two Vauxhall sites in Britain in the front line.
However, any job losses would be filled with troubles, with elections in both Germany and France this year and Britain nervous to show its departure from the European Union will not lead foreign investors to take out.
“With Opel, the talks are under way. The government has a coordination process under way,” Merkel told press reporters after meeting Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, in Berlin.
“We will do everything we can politically to secure jobs and sites in Germany,” she included.
