!NEW! Opel to Operate Distribution Centers in Bochum and Rüsselsheim on Their Own Again

• Car manufacturer will not renew joint venture contract with partner Neovia
• Reintegration into Opel will become effective on February 1, 2016
  
• Distribution center expansion plans for Bochum remain unchanged

The Opel logistics distribution centers, which are currently being conducted in a joint venture with Neovia Logistics Supply Chain Services GmbH, are planned to be reintegrated into Opel on February 1, 2016.

"We have made a decision to consider replacement parts logistics a core competence of our company and to therefore operate the European warehouses in Bochum and Rüsselsheim on our own in the future. The German distribution centers are extremely important and play a crucial role in our plans," explained Peter Christian Küspert, Vice President Sales & Aftersales and Member of the Board, Opel Group. "This direction is purely based on strategic corporate reasons. We have been satisfied with the cooperation. Neovia has proven to be a competent logistics partner," said Peter Christian Kuespert.

Wolfgang Schäfer-Klug, chairman of the German Works Council, declared: „I am very happy, that the colleagues will return to Opel. They will benefit from existing job guarantees for Opel employees.” Regarding Opel`s strategic realignment he said: “The next job should be integrating the warehouses in Bochum and Rüsselsheim into the Opel growth strategy.”

This news is especially important for the Bochum area, where the distribution center plays a key role in Opel’s future set-up. As already announced, the Bochum warehouse will be expanded with an investment of 60 million euro and the number of jobs will increase by 265 to around 700 according to the social tariff agreement. The investment will mainly be used for a new building on the site of what is locally known as plant 2. The Bochum logistics center supplies replacement parts to all markets where Opel cars are sold.

The social tariff agreement will obviously be valid for the 265 employees moving from the Bochum vehicle production to Neovia. For the Rüsselsheim warehouse the same employment guarantees as for all other Opel workers will apply.

The joint venture also operates warehouses for Opel in Rome and Budapest. The decision with regards to the continued outsourcing of the Rome and Budapest warehouses will be evaluated during 2015.

The joint venture, in which Opel has a 20 percent share, goes back to 2006. Based on long-term logistics service agreements the smaller warehouses in Rome, Rüsselsheim and Budapest have a role as so-called Parts Distribution Centers (PDC) and are responsible for supplying the authorized Opel dealers in their respective regions. Bochum as a European Sourcebook Warehouse (ESW) has a central function for the whole of Europe and supplies the Parts Distribution Centers.