|
 Opel said on Tuesday it would scale back production at its plant in
St. Petersburg to a total of 16 days during the three-month period
from August to October.
It will also offer voluntary severance packages to about a quarter
of the plant's 2,000 staff and accelerate a move to use more local
suppliers - a shift that will help it to cope with a weakening
Russian rouble.
Auto sales have slumped in Russia this year as slowing economic
growth is causing people to put off purchases.
Western sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine and the devaluing
rouble <RUB=> are causing further strains to carmakers. The rouble
is this year's biggest-declining major emerging currency, having
lost more than 15 percent in value.
Russian passenger car sales tumbled 23 percent in July alone,
extending their year-to-date drop to almost 10 percent.
General Motors (GM) is one of the foreign carmakers most exposed to
Russia. Its share of the local market shrank to 7.8 percent in
January-August from 9 percent a year ago.
"Russia was our third-biggest market last year after the UK and
Germany," Opel Chief Executive Karl-Thomas Neumann said. "At the
moment, this market is locked into severe turbulences."
Russia's top automaker Avtovaz <AVAZ.MM> said last month it would
cut production of its Lada cars by 25,000 vehicles between September
and November, though workers would continue to get their full
salary.
Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE>, Europe's largest automotive group, said
earlier this month it would suspend production at its Kaluga factory
in Russia for 10 days from Sept. 8, while keeping to longer-term
expansion plans.
"FREE FALL"
GM said it would move to one-shift operations at St. Petersburg
where it builds the Opel Astra and Chevrolet Cruze compact models.
Opel also said it aimed to purchase 60 percent of all parts locally
to alleviate cost pressures in St. Petersburg.
[to top of second column] |
"Demand has been in free fall recently, none of the carmakers
producing in Russia will be able to escape output cuts," said
Tatiana Hristova, analyst at market research firm IHS Automotive.
Production of passenger cars and commercial vehicles weighing up to
six metric tons may slump 14 percent this year to 2.4 million autos,
declining a further 6.5 percent in 2015 to 2.24 million before
rebounding in 2016, Hristova forecast.
Restructuring at Opel will also involve changes in senior personnel.
Susanna Webber, head of purchasing and logistics, will take the helm
of Opel's Russian operations with immediate effect, to be assisted
by new vice president Andy Dunstan, who previously was the
carmaker's managing director in the country.
Still, Opel's planned investments in parent GM's joint venture with
Avtovaz will not be affected by the changes, Neumann said.
"We believe in the long-term potential of Russia but volume and
prices are under strong pressure and the rouble keeps devaluing.
We're now taking steps to minimize the risk and stay on course," he
said.
(Additional reporting by Jan Schwartz; Editing by Georgina Prodhan
and Mark Potter)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright
2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
