Opel job cuts worry Ruesselsheim as China ties grow

Opel's job cuts and growing partnership with China's Leapmotor are raising concern in Ruesselsheim, the German city long shaped by the carmaker.

Stellantis, Opel's parent company, said in April that it would cut 650 engineering jobs from a workforce of 1,650 at the Ruesselsheim development centre. Opel is also expanding its partnership with Hangzhou-based Leapmotor to build a new SUV, drawing on the Chinese company's electric vehicle and low-cost production expertise.

The SUV developed with Leapmotor is due to be manufactured in Zaragoza, Spain, rather than in Ruesselsheim. Local union representative Daniel Bremm of IG Metall told AFP the risk was that the engineering centre could become an "adaptation hub" for vehicles designed elsewhere in Stellantis or in China.

Opel boss Florian Huettl told AFP that Chinese manufacturers' arrival in Europe was a reality. He said Chinese carmakers had taken nine percent of the EU market in the first five months of 2026, rising to 10.5 percent in June, and said the Leapmotor partnership would combine German industrial know-how with Chinese software expertise.

Ruesselsheim has already seen Opel's local workforce fall from about 42,000 employees in the 1970s to around 6,800 by the end of 2025. Mayor Patrick Burghardt told AFP the latest cuts would affect the city and said reducing German engineering expertise could eventually hurt the company.

Stellantis has also brought some relief to the site by assigning production of the next-generation Opel Astra and DS4 to Ruesselsheim, securing plant operations beyond 2029. The decision is part of a one-billion-euro investment plan for Germany through 2030, including a new Ruesselsheim headquarters.

The city is also seeking to diversify beyond Opel. Opel has committed to release 140,000 square metres of industrial land, which the municipality plans to turn into a technology hub focused on green hydrogen.