Spanish Opel Factory to Maintain Corsa Assembly

MADRID – Opel workers in Figueruelas, Spain, approve a new labor contract following difficult negotiations in which the PSA Group subsidiary threatened to shift production of the Corsa minicar to another plant.

Lohscheller green-lights work at Figueruelas plant after new labor deal inked.

With the 4-year deal in place, Opel CEO Michael Lohscheller confirms Figueruelas not only will build the future sixth-generation Corsa but also an all-electric version of the model in 2019.

Figueruelas has 5,300 employees and of the 4,959 who cast ballots, 60% voted to ratify the company’s offer, presented as part of PSA’s strategy to return Opel to profitability in 2020.

The offer freezes salaries in 2018 and increases pay by 50% of the inflation rate in 2019 and by 60% in 2021 and 2022; inflation in Spain increased 1.1% year-on-year in 2017. Night-shift and holiday pay is reduced 5%.

Lohscheller does not specify the investments Opel will make at Figueruelas to assemble the sixth-generation and electric Corsa models, nor does he say whether another model will be added to bring the Spanish plant’s maximum production capacity to 478,000 units.

PSA, which acquired Opel and its Vauxhall sister brand from General Motors in August 2017, also wants to lower the cost of components made by suppliers clustered around the Spanish plant. The French automaker has asked some suppliers for a 20% cost cut.

Figueruelas will be the exclusive manufacturing site for the battery-electric Corsa, one of four Opel EVs planned for 2020. PSA intends to offer an electric version of every Opel model it sells in Europe in 2024.

The plant, located near Zaragoza northeast of Madrid, began manufacturing the Corsa in 1982. Since then, almost 13 million vehicles have been built at the plant, including more than 10 million Corsas. Figueruelas currently assembles Opel Mokka X, Opel Crossland X and Citroen C3 Aircross models.