GM intends to reduce European production capacity Opel union ** expressed strong dissatisfaction

General Motors Corp. said that in order to avoid a loss in the European region, the company is considering shutting down the plant and further reducing the number of employees. Olau union chairman Klaus Franz expressed his anger.

When GM reported its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, GM’s chief financial officer Dan Ammann said the company needs to further restructure its European operations, including shutting down some of its factories. Franz expressed surprise at Ammann's remarks. Franz said that GM's board members signed a labor contract with Opel CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke, which states that before 2014, GM could not shut down its European factories and reduce the number of employees.

In the third quarter, GM sold 400,000 vehicles in the European market, compared with 389,000 vehicles in the same period last year. General Motors CEO Axon said that sales in the European market are "unacceptable".

In the past two years, GM has laid off 8,000 people in Europe and shut down the Antwerp plant in Belgium. In a recent cost-cutting proposal from General Motors, Bochum, Germany And the Eisenach factory and the Ellesmere Port factory in the United Kingdom are listed as candidates for closure.