The CEO of Opel / Vauxhall, Michael Lohscheller, assured today that the strategic plan of the company, after its acquisition by the PSA group, does not foresee the closing of any factory and that the “necessary” reduction of labor costs will be done without ” forced dismissals “.

“The plan is designed with the clear intention of maintaining all the plants and avoiding forced dismissals in Europe,” said Loshcheller.

The executive added that the “necessary reduction of labor costs” to execute the plan will be carried out with “prudent” measures such as “innovative concepts of work time, voluntary programs or early retirement schemes”.

PSA CEO Carlos Tavares also stressed that they are “committed to offering a solution to Opel employees” and stressed that the strategic plan for the future offers “a significant opportunity to save” the company.

“We need rigor, professionalism and discipline to implement this plan,” said Tavares, who described the situation of the company in recent years as “dramatic”, and stressed that the future program “is not demagogic”, but “robust and honest” “and that” has been designed by global employees and for them “.

The strategic plan presented today, just one hundred days after the acquisition of Open / Vauxhall by PSA, plans to return to the benefits starting in 2020, with an operating margin of 2%, and 6% in 2026.

Likewise, it predicts that the incorporation of Opel / Vauxhall to PSA will generate synergies of 1,000 million euros in 2020 and 1,700 million in 2026, as well as a point of financial equilibrium for the acquired company of 800,000 vehicles.

Opel / Vauxhall will become “a leader” in reducing CO2 emissions in Europe, according to the company, and in 2024 all passenger car lines will have electric propulsion, offering a pure battery drive or a mixed version with engines efficient combustion.

By 2020 the company will have four lines of electric models on the market, including the Grandland X PHEV and the new generation of Corsa as a fully electric vehicle.

The firm will improve its competitiveness in 2020 by reducing costs by 700 euros per car, among other factors. In addition, general efficiencies will be increased and the ratio of expenses and revenues will increase from 5.6 to 4.7%.

All the new cars of Opel / Vauxhall will be conceived in the town of Russelheim, which will be transformed into a “center of global competence” for the PSA group as a whole.

EFE – Frankfurt (Germany) – 11/09/2017