Britain has contacted the president of General Motors to express concerns after the American firm opened talks to sell its European operations, including the Vauxhall plants in England, to France’s PSA Group.
The Department for Business said the government remained in close contact with GM and was monitoring the situation after the two companies said on tuesday that they were in talks over a possible deal.
It’s raised fears from unions in Britain and Europe that a deal could lead to job cuts or plant closures within GM’s loss-making European business. There is also the possibility that it will be attractive to have plants outside the EU and its legislation and in a free-trading area.
General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra and President Dan Ammann were at Opel’s headquarters in Ruesselsheim, Germany, Opel said today.
A day earlier, PSA and GM confirmed they were exploring a potential deepening of strategic initiatives, including a sale of Opel to the French company.
German monthly Manager Magazin said Opel CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann was in parallel working on a strategy to turn Opel into a pure electric car brand by 2030.