Head of PSA speaks with Merkel as Opel takeover moves forward

Berlin (dpa) - The head of PSA Group assured German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday that the French carmaker‘s potential takeover of General Motors‘ European subsidiary Opel would not jeopardize German plants and jobs.It has been known for about one week that GM has been holding advanced negotations to sell Opel, which employs about 38,200 people.PSA chief Carlos Tavares told Merkel the two companies complement each other, government spokesman Steffan Seibert said Tuesday.Tavares also affirmed that "PSA will maintain Opel‘s autonomy in the affiliate group and take over the location, investment and employment guarantees," Seibert said.Approximately 19,000 Opel employees in Germany are protected from enforced redundancies until the end of 2018, according to German metalworkers union IG Metal. General Motors is also contractually bound to make investments and keep up production in the three German Opel plants - Ruesselsheim, Kaiserslautern and Eisenach - until the end of 2020.