Asked Whether He Will Close Bochum Plant, Opel Chief Says He Hasn't Decided Yet

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Opel chief Karl-Friedrich Stracke was asked to tell his workers unambiguously whether the Opel plant in Bochum will be closed or remain open. Today, Stracke met with workers in Bochum. He told them that no decision has been made – yet.

The meeting took place after state premier Hannelore Kraft had called on Stracke “to make a clear statement on his plans,” says Reuters. Pressured by Detroit to stem the bloodletting of Opel, and pressured by Northrhine-Westfalia’s highly popular premier, Stracke took the easy way out.

He said that he would stick to the contracts that forbid plant closures or firing through 2014. However, “in the long term, the company has to be put on a solid footing,” Die Welt paraphrased Stracke.

Ever since GM decided to move future Astra production the Ellesmere Port, the Bochum plant is said to be the first GM will close once it can. Maybe workers will receive an answer on June 28. This is when Stracke will present a business-plan to Opel’s supervisory board.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Pig_Iron Pig_Iron on May 21, 2012

    Now that Chinese consumption has slowed, exports may increase.

  • Challenger2012 Challenger2012 on May 21, 2012

    Hugo There are many politicians who were rooting for the destruction of GM and Chrysler who now don’t want to be reminded of it. It will be interesting, around November, to see these politicians develop amnesia concerning their efforts to terminate GM and Chrysler.

  • Alluster Alluster on May 21, 2012

    "He told them that no decision has been made – yet." He meant no decision has been made yet on when to inform the workers!

  • Challenger2012 Challenger2012 on May 21, 2012

    An uncooperative work force that will not address wages and benefits even as their employer is losing money, should not be surprised when that employer pulls up stakes. Why GM can’t reduce its work force or close plants to match the market demand is beyond me? If I were GM, I would look at the overcapacity in Europe, overzealous unions, and unreasonable wages and benefits and then exit Germany, ASAP. To those who think BMW, Audi and MB are immune to the markets i.e. costs and sales price, wait unit the Koreans start going up scale. The Japanese are now paying more attention to the high end cars lines, and if US auto makers ever decide to make quality high end cars, the gravy train in Germany might come to a crashing end. Look at how well Audi has done, when they decided to actually put the time and money to make world class high end cars.

    • See 1 previous
    • Carfriend313 Carfriend313 on May 21, 2012

      @charly I don't think it is - the problem is that no one wants to buy one. Opel is to most people a particularly undesirable brand of car. Contrast that to the UK-only Vauxhall which is highly successful offering largely the same cars and it becomes even more obvious.

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