US car giant General Motors is investing heavily in modernising a development centre for its German subsidiary Opel.
GM is spending 230 million euros ($ 300 million) on revamping the test facilities at its main Ruesselsheim factory and at the Dudenhofen proving ground, Opel announced.
The news comes hard on the heels of a decision by GM to shut down its factory in Bochum in Germany from 2014 after failing to agree on the terms of future production with employee representatives.
The new sum will be used over the next three to four years — in addition to an investment of 4 billion euros for new Opel models and engines which was recently approved by the GM administrative board.
Opel board Chief Karl-Thomas Neumann said the latest cash injection would secure the future of Ruesselsheim “as a manufacturer of engines and gearboxes for Europe and the whole world. This move gives us global responsibility for engine development”.