Ruesselsheim, Germany (dpa) - Car makers Opel of Germany and Saab of Sweden are fighting over future production at just one factory of the next generation of their medium-range model. Sunday was the deadline for written applications from the Opel works at Ruesselsheim, Germany and the Saab works at Trollhattan, Sweden. A decision on where to locate production is expected by parent company General Motors early next year. The next-generation Vectra/Saab 9.3 is to be produced at just one factory from 2008 as part of the U.S. car giant's cost-cutting measures. One Opel executive was quoted in Sweden Sunday as saying there was a good chance that the decision would go in favour of Ruesselsheim. The Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter quoted "a centrally placed source at GM" as saying Ruesselsheim would get the decision because of its central position and the fact that GM sells four times as many Opel cars in Germany than Saab models in Sweden. The source also pointed to lower investment costs in Ruesselsheim. However GM Europe spokesman Ruediger Assion told Deutsche Presse-Agentur Sunday that no decision had been reached. "The decision will not be made until early next year. The countdown starts now with the analysis of available data," he said. General Motors has already announced its intention to cut 12,000 jobs, with reports saying 10,000 could be at Opel in Germany, including 4,000 each at the Ruesselsheim and Bochum factories. --SP 0004 Local Time 2104 GMT
