FACTBOX-GM's European sites under the gun

Published: 08 Apr 2009 18:05:59 PST

April 8 - General Motors Corp is in "intense" and "earnest" preparations for a possible bankruptcy filing, a source familiar with the company's plans said on Wednesday.

A decision to enter bankruptcy proceedings in the U.S. could have repercussions on GM's wider international operations, although it would not automatically lead to bankruptcy for GM units.

Below are details of GM's main operations that build cars for Europe. Figures are from 2008:

GM-OWNED ASSEMBLY PLANTS:

BELGIUM:

- Employs 2,584 people with sales of 60,530. GM has a market share of 9 percent.

ANTWERP - Makes Astra cars and produced about 132,000 vehicles

BRITAIN:

- GM employs 4,729 people in Britain and had sales of 383,678 units. GM has a 15.4 percent of market share.

- Ellesmere Port has the capacity to produce more than 180,000 cars a year of the Opel/Vauxhall Astra model and the Astravan. IBC Vehicles Ltd., a joint venture with Isuzu Motors Ltd formed in Luton in 1987, produces about 60,000 Opel/Vauxhall Vivaros a year.

- Since 2000, GM has been responsible for the Saab brand in Britain. Chevrolet launched in the UK market in January 2005 and recently Cadillac and Corvette were introduced.

ELLESMERE PORT - Assembled about 111,677 Astras and Astravans under the Vauxhall hallmark

LUTON - Makes about 87,000 Opel Vivaro and Renault Trafic vehicles every year

GERMANY:

- GM employs 25,103 people in Germany, the majority of them at Ruesselsheim, Bochum, Kaiserslautern and Eisenach. In 2008, GM sold 299,708 cars and light commercial vehicles in Germany.

RUESSELSHEIM - Assembled about 120,000 vehicles including the Vectra, Signum and Insignia

BOCHUM - Produced about 197,000 Zafiras and Astras

EISENACH - Assembled nearly 197,000 Corsas

POLAND:

- GM employs nearly 3,600 people in Poland and has 9.4 percent of the market share. Sales were 37,831 units.

GLIWICE - Produced about 171,000 vehicles, mainly Astras and Zafiras.

RUSSIA:

- GM sells Opel, Chevrolet, Saab, Cadillac and HUMMER brands throughout Russia, and represented 11.2 percent of the total Russian market.

- Three assembly plants build a mix of Cadillac, HUMMER and Chevrolet models, one in Togliatti and is operated by the GM-Avtovaz joint venture, another is owned and operated by GM's partner, Avtotor, in Kaliningrad, and the third assembly operation is in St. Petersburg.

- Total GM sales in 2008 were 337,810 units.

SPAIN:

- Employs 7,001 people in Spain and sold more than 106,500 cars

ZARAGOZA - Produced about 423,000 units, mainly Corsas and Meriva and Combo minivans.

SWEDEN:

- GM employs 3,982 people in Sweden with sales of 32,563. GM had a 10.8 percent market share in Sweden in 2008.

TROLLHATTAN -- Built about 63,850 Saab cars and 1,200 Cadillac BLS vehicles.

OTHER ASSEMBLY FACILITIES:

GRAZ, AUSTRIA - Made about 11,000 Saab 9-3 convertibles

BATILLY, FRANCE - GM Europe assembled close to 14,500 Opel Movano model vans

CERIZAY, FRANCE - Built about 8,800 Opel Tigra TwinTop cars

Sources: Reuters/GM Europe http://www.gm.com/europe/