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Opel Confirms Plan to Close Bochum Plant in 2014

The supervisory board General Motors Co.'s Opel unit has approved a plan to end vehicle production at its assembly plant in Bochum, Germany, by the end of next year.

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The supervisory board General Motors Co.'s Opel unit has approved a plan to end vehicle production at its assembly plant in Bochum, Germany, by the end of next year. The decision affirms statements last month by Opel executives.

The Bochum facility will be the first auto factory in Germany to close since the end of World War II.

Opel offered to keep the facility open until 2016 but only if the 3,000 workers there agreed to cost-cutting concessions. When they rejected the proposed contract in March, the company declared the plant would close in 2014. The shutdown will coincide with the end of production of the current-generation Zafira MPV built in Bochum.

GM has lost $18 billion in Europe since 1999. The company says it must eliminate excess capacity to return to profitability.

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