2009.09.22. 19:36
Opel to move production from Germany to Hungary
Budapest - Troubled car maker Opel will move production of engines and transmissions from Russelsheim, Germany, to its plant in Hungary, German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Tuesday.
The move is part of Canadian automotive industry supplier Magna's strategy for the company. Earlier in September, General Motors agreed to sell a 55pc stake in Opel to a group led by Magna.
As a result of the move, 1,400 of the 14,700 workers at the plant in Russelsheim, Opel's biggest in Europe, will be laid of.
Hungary is in contact with the German trade ministry on Opel's engine plant in Hungary, state secretary at the National Development and Economy Ministry Zoltan Mester told MTI a week earlier. Factory closures should not be based on politics, but on professional considerations, he said, adding that the plant in Szentgotthard, near Hungary's border with Austria, is one of Opel's most efficient production operations. The plant is the sole maker of 1.6- and 1.8-litre engines for Opel.
