BERLIN (AFP)--The head of troubled German auto maker Opel raised
the possibility of closing plants in Germany to rescue the group in
an interview to be published Monday.
"If one thinks purely in terms of operating costs, and not in
terms of individual jobs, it would of course be sensible," Hans
Demant told the weekly magazine Wirtschaftswoche.
"We want to do our utmost to avoid closures. Whether we will
manage it remains to be seen," he added.
For the moment, measures to cut certain departments and jobs and
reduce the wage bill were being envisaged, Demant said, adding, "We
are aware that these are painful."
The German magazine Der Spiegel earlier this month reported that
Opel's management planned to shut three facilities in Europe - two
in Germany and one in Belgium - and sack 11,000 people, one fifth
of its work force.
The aim is to save some $1.2 billion dollars in staff costs, Der
Spiegel said. An alternative proposal would be to cut only 3,500
jobs but lower wages across the board, it added.
Meanwhile the daily Bild Saturday quoted the head of the works
committee, Klaus Franz, as saying that Opel employees were
envisaging a joint operation with the group's 2,000 concessionaires
to buy 25% of the company.
They would be prepared to give up some of their wages to fund
the project, he added.
Demant said bankruptcy was "not an option" for Opel, which was
engaged in "very constructive discussions" with the government to
obtain state aid amounting to EUR3.3 billion.
He said that it was not a question of directly injecting cash
into Opel, a unit of General Motors Corp. (GM), but providing
limited guarantees under a plan presented in late February that
also foresees the German car maker gaining a large degree of
autonomy from GM.
Labor Minister Olaf Scholz told the weekly Bild am Sonntag in an
interview to be published Sunday that "letting Opel die would be
more than a mistake, it would be an unacceptable setback for the
government."
The cost would be billions of euros, the Social Democrat said,
calling on Christian Democrat chancellor Angela Merkel to promise
Opel workers that they could count on the cross-party
government.
Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said Tuesday that GM
was prepared to scale down its stake in Opel to a minority
shareholding.
He said he had also sought guarantees from the U.S. government
that any German public aid for Opel would not be transferred to
boost GM.
After meeting Tuesday with his U.S. counterpart, Treasury
Secretary Timothy Geithner, Guttenberg told reporters that "the
glimmer of hope for Opel was becoming a bit brighter."
But despite "considerable progress" in the talks, many
unresolved issues remained, he said.