- GM posts $400 million loss in Europe in second quarter
- CEO says progress made on key components of restructuring plant
- Restructuring will affect more than blue-collar workers
UPDATE: A spokesman for General Motors said Thursday he made a mistake in telling AFP that the U.S. automaker was in talks to close one or more factories in Europe. Company spokesman Jim Cain said he did not "intend to suggest that we might consider closing one or more plants." "What I was trying to convey was that we are negotiating the issue of capacity with IG Metall," he added in an e-mail. "Those discussions include the future Bochum facility after the current product cycle." He added that GM has "reiterated that it was honoring its contracts in place."
Original Report: General Motors (IW 500/4) is in talks to close one or more factories in Europe and hopes to reach a "comprehensive" deal with German unions in the coming months, the U.S. automaker said Thursday.
"Opel management and German unions are continuing to discuss a broad range of issues that will help ensure the sustainability of the business, including productivity, cost and capacity," GM Chief Executive Dan Akerson said.
"We expect to have a comprehensive agreement in place sometime this fall."
When asked whether current talks could lead to one or more plant closures, GM spokesman James Cain said "yes, it is still in negotiation."
Too Much Capacity
"Capacity has to be addressed and that is a major focus of the negotiations," he told AFP.
GM, which posted Thursday a $400 million loss in Europe in the second quarter following a $256 million loss in the prior quarter, has spoken for some time about the need to reduce excess capacity at its European subsidiary Opel-Vauxhall.
"In the past, we haven't moved fast enough to fix the things that we can control, but that has changed," Akerson said in a conference call discussing the automaker's second-quarter results.
In late June, Opel's supervisory board approved a plan that involved deep restructuring, huge investment in the product range of the Opel and Vauxhall brands, and a new marketing strategy.
Akerson said the company has made progress on the key components of the European restructuring plan -- "building a stronger team, investing in new products and addressing our cost and capacity."
GM has also reached "competitive operating agreements" with unions in England and Poland and "made good progress streamlining decision-making, reducing our material cost and managing our working capital and cash flow," Akerson noted.
