Opel records black figures again

Author: Mario Schmidtgen
Date: 25.07.2018

Profits after 20 years

Good news for Opel: After almost 20 years, they are finally no longer in the red. Under the control of the new French owner PSA, the car maker is earning money again. According to the company, the operating result of the first half of 2018 was around 502 million euros. Jean-Baptiste de Chatillon, CFO at Opel, comments: “After a long period of many years of losses, the first half of 2018 will reach a significant level of profitability.”

Last year PSA replaced General Motors and took over the Opel Group. The employees were assured that no plants based in Germany will be closed and that compulsory redundancies will be waived. But already under the control of the American parent company General Motors these promises were broken. Thousands of jobs were cut down. In addition the vehicle factories in Bochum and Antwerp were closed.

Agreed job guarantee

At the end of May, the company and the employees agreed on a job guarantee until July 2023. Opel assured to the remaining employees that the core workforce of the German locations, about 19,000 employees, will only be reduced by 3,700 employees. This would be done on a voluntary basis and through various compensation and early retirement schemes according to company information.