Vauxhall workers face wait
VAUXHALL workers caught up in the disposal of General Motors’ European business Opel face a six-week wait before finding out if jobs will be cut.
The Canadian parts maker Magna has now been named as the preferred bidder for Opel, Vauhall’s parent, ending weeks of speculation over the future of the business.
Cuts are expected at the group’s operations across Europe, which employ 55,000 people – 5,500 at Vauxhall’s UK plants at Ellesmere Port and Luton.
A spokesman for Vauxhall confirmed today that no details of Magna’s plans will emerge until it has concluded a period of due diligence.
Dennis Chick told TheBusinessDesk: “There will be about five or six weeks of due diligence. Their plans for the business will not be shared until they have completed that process.”
Opel has been unaffected by GM’s move into US bankruptcy protection because its ownership has been temporarily transferred into a trust fund.
It has confirmed the receipt of a £259m bridging loan from the German government as part of the rescue deal. Germany has put forward the finance because Opel employs 25,000 workers in the country.
