BERLIN, September 14 (RIA Novosti) - The new owners of GM Opel plan to cut some 4,500 jobs at the carmaker's German plants, the Die Welt paper said on Monday, citing a source in the Austrian-Canadian components producer, Magna.
On Thursday, the U.S. car giant General Motors took a long-awaited decision to sell Opel to a Magna-led consortium with Russia's largest bank Sberbank. The decision was approved by the Opel board and the German government.
Initially, some 11,600 workers were expected to lose their jobs across Europe, including 3,000 in Germany. However, no concrete figures have yet been announced.
"Magna has not yet provided a business plan," Harald Lieske, union head at the Eisenach plant, said.
Under last week's decision, the Magna-Sberbank consortium will own a 55% stake in Opel, the German carmaker itself will control 10% with GM retaining 35%. The new owners are set to leave Opel plants in Germany intact, but plan to close two production sites in Europe, including a Belgian plant.
German government guarantees and funds will not extend to Opel facilities in Russia.
The Magna-Sberbank consortium said it was ready to invest 500 million euros ($727 million) in Opel. Magna and Sberbank will own their stake on a parity basis.
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