General Motors has decided to build its next-generation mid-sized car at Opel's plant in Ruesselsheim, Germany, rather than at Saab in Sweden, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter said on Sunday. Quoting what it called a central source in GM's organisation, the paper said the reason for the decision was that it was better to be close to continental Europe and that the German market was much bigger and sold more cars.
Both Saab, based in Trolhattan in western Sweden, and Ruesselsheim, are due on Monday to hand over plans to GM management as they try to persuade the US giant to situate the production of the new car in their plant.
GM recently announced it was slashing European jobs by 12,000, with the blow falling hardest in Germany.
Its future mid-sized car is planned to replace the Opel Vectra and Saab-93 but will be built on a common platform.
The newspaper report said that Saab would not be closed but would be given the job of producing a new luxury car based on the Cadillac or future versions of the Opel Astra.
Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson met GM executives on Friday at the firm's European headquarters in Zurich.
The government has also drawn up a series of measures for Trollhattan to boost local infrastructure to help Saab win the car contract.
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