{"id":1151413,"date":"2026-08-16T07:01:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T07:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1151413\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T07:01:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T07:01:18","slug":"opel-job-cuts-leave-german-car-town-fearing-chinas-growing-auto-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1151413\/","title":{"rendered":"Opel job cuts leave German car town fearing China\u2019s growing auto power"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

RUESSELSHEIM (Germany), Aug 16 \u2014 As Germany\u2019s Opel slashes its engineering ranks and partners with China\u2019s Leapmotor, anxiety is running high in Ruesselsheim, the city it has long dominated.<\/p>\n

Struggling like many other European automakers, Opel is expanding its partnership with Leapmotor to build a new SUV, tapping the Hangzhou-based company\u2019s expertise on electric vehicles and low-cost production \u2013 while leaving Opel\u2019s local engineers to perform more old-fashioned vehicle design work.<\/p>\n

Stellantis, Opel\u2019s multinational parent company, said in April that it would cut 650 engineering jobs \u2013 from a total workforce of 1,650 \u2013 at its Ruesselsheim development centre, amid a wave of job cuts across the German auto industry.<\/p>\n

Those developments have unleashed concerns in this Rhine River city, where Opel was once the mighty engine of prosperity. For their part, the mass-market carmaker\u2019s executives say they are trying to adapt to the \u201creality\u201d of stiff global competition.<\/p>\n

A new reality\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Daniel Bremm, a local representative of the IG Metall union, the main risk is technological downgrading, the possibility that the engineering centre would be reduced to a mere \u201cadaptation hub\u201d for vehicles designed elsewhere within the Stellantis group or in China.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn France and Italy, they are hiring, whereas in Germany, we are only cutting jobs,\u201d Bremm lamented, saying that governments in Paris and Rome seemed to be lobbying the parent company more aggressively.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe arrival of Chinese manufacturers in Europe is a reality,\u201d Opel boss Florian Huettl told AFP.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He noted that Chinese carmakers had captured nine per cent of the EU market over the first five months of 2026 \u2013 a figure that rose to 10.5 per cent in June.<\/p>\n

Huettl said the Leapmotor partnership would combine German industrial know-how with the Chinese company\u2019s software expertise \u201cto create the best of both worlds\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Opel <\/p>\n

Opel CEO Florian Huettl speaks during an AFP interview at the company\u2019s headquarters in Ruesselsheim, Germany, on June 30, 2026, as the carmaker cuts engineering jobs and expands its partnership with China\u2019s Leapmotor. \u2014 AFP pic<\/p>\n

The Ruesselsheim teams would in turn refocus on their core competencies \u2013 vehicle parts such as chassis, seats, lighting, steering and driver-assistance systems.<\/p>\n

A changed European market\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

German automakers are ramping up cost-cutting measures in response to a sluggish European market, overcapacity in the EV sector, and the rising strength of Chinese rivals.<\/p>\n

Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche have all announced cost-reduction programmes.<\/p>\n

For Opel, these measures are part of a long-term trend.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1862 by Adam Opel, the company produced sewing machines and later bicycles, before venturing into car manufacturing in 1899 at its Ruesselsheim site.<\/p>\n

Long a symbol of German industrial might, the brand dominated the West German market and sold well across Europe in the 1970s thanks to successful and affordable models like the Kadett and the Rekord.<\/p>\n

It subsequently went into gradual decline under the ownership of the American group General Motors, which long restricted its international expansion to avoid competition with other GM subsidiaries.<\/p>\n

Fewer than 7,000 employees\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Opel was acquired in 2017 by France\u2019s Peugeot Group, which in turn merged with Fiat-Chrysler in 2021 to form Stellantis.<\/p>\n

The workforce at Ruesselsheim has shrunk from a 1970s peak of around 42,000 employees to approximately 6,800 by the end of 2025.<\/p>\n

Opel is no longer even the town\u2019s largest employer.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s mayor, Patrick Burghardt, noted in an interview with AFP that that position is now held by the nearby Frankfurt airport.<\/p>\n

These latest job cuts \u201cnaturally have an impact\u201d on the city, Burghardt said.<\/p>\n

Although he understood Opel\u2019s need to remain competitive globally, he worried that a strategy of cutting German engineering expertise could eventually \u201ccome back to haunt them in the long run\u201d.<\/p>\n

None of the employees contacted by AFP wished to comment on the site\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Economic diversification\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Concerns have been compounded by the decision to manufacture the upcoming SUV \u2013 developed in partnership with Leapmotor \u2013 in Zaragoza, Spain, rather than in Ruesselsheim.<\/p>\n

There was, however, a bit of good news this summer when Stellantis decided to allocate production of the next-generation Opel Astra and DS4 to Ruesselsheim, securing the plant\u2019s operations beyond 2029.<\/p>\n

This decision is part of a \u20ac1 billion (US$1.2 billion; RM5.1 billion) investment plan for Germany running through 2030, which includes the construction of a new Ruesselsheim headquarters known as the \u201cgrEEn-campus\u201d.<\/p>\n

That came as a relief to Opel\u2019s workers and the city, though anxieties remain high as the broader auto industry remains under pressure and questions remain about the future shape of the Chinese partnership.<\/p>\n

The municipality is not waiting to find out, instead seeking to accelerate its economic diversification, hoping to find new areas of growth beyond the Opel plants.<\/p>\n

Opel has committed to releasing 140,000 square metres (1.5 million square feet) of industrial land, which the city plans to transform into a technology hub dedicated to green hydrogen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have two hearts beating in our chests,\u201d Burghardt, the mayor, told AFP.<\/p>\n

Job cuts are difficult for families, he said, but the new project offers \u201ca unique opportunity\u201d for the city to \u201cposition itself in a much better way\u201d for the decades ahead. \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n

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