General Motors Corp. on Friday chose its Ruesselsheim, Germany plant to build midsize cars for Europe over its plant in Sweden as the automaker strives to cut costs and head off bruising competition. The automaker had said that only one of its European plants would produce the next generation of midsize Opels and Saabs, currently made at both Ruesselsheim and the Saab plant in Trollhaettan, Sweden. "In the past months, the company conducted an objective, intense analysis to determine which of the two plants would offer the best business model for future production needs in Europe," GM subsidiary Adam Opel AG, based in Ruesselsheim, said in a statement. Last year, GM Europe announced it would cut as many as 12,000 jobs in Europe, where the world's largest automaker is struggling to end years of losses amid fierce competition and weak demand. GM said 15 percent of management jobs in Europe would be eliminated as part of the program, which aims to produce cost savings of ¤500 million (US$665 million) a year.
