GM Opel confirms Antwerp factory will shut

General Motors' Opel business said on the 21 January 2010 that it would close its plant in Antwerp, Belgium, during 2010 as part of a plan to cut its production capacity by a fifth.

The closure decision is part of GM's politically contentious restructuring of its European operations.

The plan foresees 8,300 job cuts, including about 4,000 in Germany. GM said the restructuring would affect all its European sites. In addition to Belgium, the group has plants in the UK, Spain, Germany, Poland, Austria and Hungary.

ESO: Background information: Germany to bear brunt of Opel cuts http://www.europeansources.info/record/germany-to-bear-brunt-of-opel-cuts/

BBC News, 21.1.10: GM confirms Opel factory closure in Antwerp http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8472115.stm

NRC Handelsblad, 21.1.10: GM scraps 8,300 jobs in Europe http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2464745.ece/GM_scraps_8%2C300_jobs_in_Europe

Deutsche Welle, 21.1.10: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5152963,00.html http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5152963,00.html

PressEurop, 22.1.10: Fit for the scrapheap? http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/175451-fit-scrapheap

Deutsche Welle, 23.1.10: Antwerp plant closure puts Opel workers on war footing http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5162213,00.html

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