“According to our estimation, the complete shutdown of production will take place in the first half of the year,” the GPA union said when asked. The task force doesn't want to commit to a specific date, but says there are still orders “for the coming months.” Stellandis said there is no date yet for the end of series production and “so there is no final time horizon.” The company announced the closing of the Aspern plant last June.
According to the union and labor committee, a social plan for employees was finalized and completed before Christmas. It provides financial assistance and training and support in finding a job. And a working foundation was laid. According to Stellandis, the social plan also agreed that employees would be notified “four months in advance” of the end of serial production.
The factory has only 260 employees
The plant was at its peak in the early 1980s. About 2,200 people worked at the site in 1983. In August 2017, Opel became part of the French PSA group. In January 2021, Peugeot parent PSA and Fiat-Chrysler joined forces to form Stellantis. In recent years, the plant has been shrinking more and more. Until 2020, engines were manufactured at the site. At the time, Aspern lost its last major order from General Motors and the number of employees continued to decline.
Problems caused by the coronavirus period and chip shortages also affected the location. With the shift in the automotive industry, the focus on electromobility and the associated progressive electrification of the Stellandis product range, demand for six-speed manual transmissions for combustion engines from Vienna is declining, the carmaker says.
About 300 workers were employed at the plant last summer, but only 260 remain, according to Stellantis. The automobile company, which has brands like Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Fiat, Jeep, Opel and Peugeot, wants to focus on transmission manufacturing. French base at Valenciennes.
And the application is still open
It is not yet clear what will happen after the Austrian plant is completed. The property owner is Federal Real Estate Corporation (BIG). The operating area covers an area of approximately 600,000 square meters. According to the city, the areas are the so-called “red zone”. This means that this part is reserved for operational use and will not be reused.
“After announcing concrete next steps to wind down Stellandis' operations, BIG will endeavor to find a suitable reuse of the property as quickly as possible,” it said when asked. BIG is “yet to be told” when Stellandis will close the plant completely.
