After the decision to keep Opel has been made public by American manufacturer GM, everybody scrambled to find out the reasons behind the decision. With Magna being strangely at peace with the decision (despite their months long struggle to take over the German carmaker), everyone turned to GM to find out the whys, hows and where-tos of Opel.
Of course, there is in one more fit for the job of explaining it all than GM's CEO, Fritz Henderson. He tried and, here and there, managed to clear up a few of the loose end left by this weeks decision in a somewhat informal meeting with reporters in Detroit.
Opel MONEY
Talking about how GM plans to get over the financial aspects of their decision, Henderson said the company plans to pay back the bridge loan in Europe, due to this month, as the "current liquidity in Europe is sufficient." So sufficient, Henderson says, that GM may create a restructuring plan which will be financed by the manufacturer itself.
"So we have the resources there to basically pay off the bridge loan and… resubmit for consideration not only in Germany but in various other countries that indicated an interest in providing resources and support. … In terms of our expectation… we are at about $3 billion Euro of financing."
"In terms of the number of people, basically we’re going to go through this with our people first before we go into it with you. All of the plans, again, whether it was ours or whether it was Magna's, called for a substantial reduction in capacity in the business and the need to right size the workforce."
"I just don't think it’s fair, and not something that I should do this morning, to go into what is the number and where. It’s really something we should do with our people first."
Henderson also denied naming possible Opel plants to be closed. He did however named Germany, Spain, the UK and Poland as the manufacturer's "big operations."
As for the restructuring plan itself, GM will "shortly be making presentation to the respective governments."
"So we have the resources there to basically pay off the bridge loan and… resubmit for consideration not only in Germany but in various other countries that indicated an interest in providing resources and support. … In terms of our expectation… we are at about $3 billion Euro of financing."
Opel JOBS and PLANTS
Asked of how many people will have to leave from Opel in order for it to get back on track, Henderson declined to give a precise number, but said it will be "substantial.""In terms of the number of people, basically we’re going to go through this with our people first before we go into it with you. All of the plans, again, whether it was ours or whether it was Magna's, called for a substantial reduction in capacity in the business and the need to right size the workforce."
"I just don't think it’s fair, and not something that I should do this morning, to go into what is the number and where. It’s really something we should do with our people first."
Henderson also denied naming possible Opel plants to be closed. He did however named Germany, Spain, the UK and Poland as the manufacturer's "big operations."
As for the restructuring plan itself, GM will "shortly be making presentation to the respective governments."
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