GM May Stop Engine Production in Austria by 2018

VIENNA – General Motors plans to phase out engine production at its Opel Wien engine and transmission plant here by 2018, the Salzburger Nachrichten daily reports.

The Vienna-based plant will focus on the production of gearboxes in the future, according to the newspaper.

Opel Wien’s spokeswoman declines to comment on the report.

The plant based in the Austrian capital produces 1.2L and 1.4L gasoline engines including 1.4L turbocharged powerplants. It also manufactures 5- and 6-speed transmissions.

Opel’s Vienna plant manufactured more than 1.25 million engines and gearboxes in 2014. The total includes 534,246 engines, 375,333 5-speed transmissions and 347,209 6-speed transmissions.

The automaker expects similar production volumes for this and next year.

In related news, Tamás Solt, who previously served as managing director of the Opel Szentgotthard engine plant in Szentgotthard in neighboring Hungary, has been appointed new managing director of Opel Wien effective Oct. 1. He replaces Rudi Spiess, who moves as executive director-manufacturing engineering, Opel/Vauxhall, to Rüsselsheim, Germany.