Monday, November 1st, 2021
Manufacturers have to change
Opel boss makes it clear: We’ll keep all plants
Many Opel employees like to hear this news: their factories in Germany will be retained. This is confirmed by managing director Uwe Hochgeschurtz. He is confused about how information to the contrary can get to the public. However, he prepares the employees for big changes.
The new Opel boss Uwe Hochgeschurtz gave the automaker’s 15,000 employees a promise a few weeks after taking office. “We keep all the plants. Rüsselsheim, Eisenach and Kaiserslautern are and will remain our factories in Germany,” said Hochgeschurtz of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. At the same time, however, he emphasized: “We have to constantly develop our competitiveness anew”.
Previously, there had been new rumors of cuts at the manufacturer belonging to the Stellantis group. Hochgeschurtz said: “We keep our contracts.” It is a mystery to him why some statements based on speculation unsettled the workforce and questioned the future viability of Opel. That is unfair to the many employees who kneel down every day and deserve respect for their work. Opel is “so fit for the future as never before in this millennium”.
More chemists, fewer mechanics needed
At the same time, the manager made it clear that Opel had to keep changing. “An electric car needs less and different work to develop and manufacture than a model with a combustion engine. It needs different skills, different factory equipment. We will need fewer jobs with mechanical skills, but more jobs that have to do with chemistry or software,” said Hochgeschurtz the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”.
Opel is currently worried about the plant in Eisenach. There production will be shut down until the end of the year due to missing chips. Hochgeschurtz takes away the concern that production may never be restarted: “Eisenach is also suffering from the chip crisis. Our plan continues to provide for production to be resumed at the beginning of next year, provided that the supply situation permits.” He was also optimistic about the situation at the Rüsselsheim plant: Investments will be made there, and the start-up of the new Astra at the headquarters in these days is proof that orders can be won with competitive structures. “As a reminder: So far, the Astra has rolled off the assembly line outside of Germany. Now we have been awarded the contract for Rüsselsheim and are investing in a second shift here. We are also building the Insignia here. And the DS4, a model from our French sister brand DS Automobiles, That is a great vote of confidence from Stellantis. I am confident that we will win new development contracts in the future. “