GM to cease car production at Bochum Opel plant

General Motors is to cease car production at its Opel plant in the western city of Bochum, at the cost of over 3,000 jobs. Employees at the plant, one of four in Germany, were informed yesterday.

Amid a sharp decline in sales across Europe, Opel is cutting back costs as it rolls out new models.

The company, founded in Germany in 1862, has held talks with government officials since June to find alternative uses for the car plant, Germany’s first to be shut in half a century.

German government officials expressed their sympathy with workers yesterday but made clear they had no time for GM.

They remember well how, when the economic crisis hit the car market three years ago, GM was given a government loan to keep Opel afloat while it found a buyer.

When sales picked up again, GM cancelled the proposed sale and paid back the loan.