GM Confirms It Might Eliminate 10,000 European Jobs

Ever since General Motors announced its plans to keep Opel, people started wondering how many people will actually leave the German brand as part of the shake-up. Some voices close to the matter hinted that GM intends to eliminate as many as 10,000 jobs across Europe but up until now, no company officials have commented on this subject.

Nick Reilly, however, who's now serving as interim head of GM's European operations, told Reuters that GM might indeed reduce the workforce by around 10,000 jobs with all the details to be finalized in approximately three weeks.

"We cannot let this situation linger, we need to get on with the restructuring. We have a likely plan but I would rather not give specifics today," he was quoted as saying by the source.

Reilly confirmed that General Motors will inject its own money in the shake-up but also admitted that it expects governments hosting GM factories to provide financial support. The company intends to invest around 2 billion euros in the process while Germany and other countries would provide the remaining funds.

"It could involve closing a plant. We haven't 100 percent decided," he added. "We have some flexibility to use some of our own money."

Talking about Vauxhall's future, Reilly replied in an evasive manner but hinted however that GM hopes to keep local operations untouched. Both the UK plants, Ellesmere Port in northwest England and Luton, north of London, might remain open even after reorganization. Still, workforce might be reduced by approximately 800 jobs, almost the same as Magna planned for the British operations.