GM wields axe in Europe

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2004

RUESSELSHEIM, Germany (AFP) — US auto giant General Motors got tough with its loss-making European activities, saying that one in five jobs in the region faced the chop in a brutal bid to drive the businesses back to profit after six years of losses.

GM, the world's biggest car maker, said it would axe 12,000 jobs from a total European workforce of around 60,000 over the next two years, with German unit Opel to bear the brunt of the cuts.

And GM Europe chief Fritz Henderson said that while there were no immediate plans to shut down any plants, as unions and politicians had initially feared, factory closures could not be ruled out altogether.

The job cuts -- around 90 percent of which would be made next year -- were part of GM's plans to cut costs at its...