GM Bares Plans to Cut 10,000 Workers at Opel

US automaker General Motors Co on Wednesday announced plans to cut some 10, 000 employees at Opel a day after it has scrapped planned sale of the German-based auto unit to Canada’s auto part manufacturer Magna International and Russian Banking System Sberbank.

In a statement, GM Vice President John Smith said that the move was part of the plan to slash production costs at Opel by around 30 percent. To date, Opel has some 55, 000 workers.

The decision surprised the automotive media, which are expecting the sale of Opel. Instead, GM said that it would abandon the program and would conduct a business restructuring at the German company, starting with the job cuts.

Meanwhile, reports told that German workers, consisting half of Opel’s workforce, was outraged by the decision. The employees were expecting the Magna-Sberbank deal in a bid to preserve jobs.

On the other hand, there is no clear answer from GM on whether they would also implement job cuts in Spain, Poland, Belguim, Great Britain, and Austria, where it also hold major Opel production and operations.

“We are very hopeful the German government will acknowledge our plan. We understand that they have a very strong appetite for the proposal made by Magna, so we understand their position,” he Smith said.