Opel’s China shift rattles hometown
● Opel is expanding its partnership with Chinese electric-vehicle maker Leapmotor
● The move comes as Stellantis, Opel's parent company, plans to cut 650 engineering jobs
TDT | agencies
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For more than a century, Opel has been at the heart of life in Rüsselsheim. But as the German carmaker turns increasingly to Chinese technology and cuts engineering jobs, the city is wondering what its future looks like without the company at its centre.
Opel is expanding its partnership with Chinese electric-vehicle maker Leapmotor to develop a new SUV, combining German automotive expertise with Chinese know-how in software and low-cost EV production.
The move comes as Stellantis, Opel's parent company, plans to cut 650 engineering jobs at Opel's Rüsselsheim development centre, reducing a workforce of 1,650.
The cuts have raised fears that the site could gradually lose its role as a centre for vehicle development and become little more than an adaptation hub for cars designed elsewhere.
Opel chief executive Florian Huettl says the changes reflect a new reality. Chinese carmakers accounted for 9 per cent of the European Union car market in the first five months of 2026, rising to 10.5 per cent in June, he said.
“The arrival of Chinese manufacturers in Europe is a reality,” Huettl said, arguing that the partnership could combine the strengths of both sides.
But for Rüsselsheim, the changes are difficult to ignore.
Opel's workforce in the city has fallen dramatically from about 42,000 employees in the 1970s to around 6,800 at the end of 2025. The company's decline has mirrored the struggles of Germany's wider automotive industry, with Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Porsche all pursuing cost-cutting programmes.
There is some relief. Stellantis has allocated production of the next-generation Opel Astra and DS4 to Rüsselsheim, helping secure the plant beyond 2029 as part of a 1 billion investment programme in Germany.
Yet the city is preparing for a future beyond Opel.
The company plans to release 140,000 square metres of industrial land, which officials hope to transform into a green-hydrogen technology hub.
For Mayor Patrick Burghardt, the challenge is balancing the pain of job losses with the opportunity to reinvent the city.
“We have two hearts beating in our chests,” he said — one worried about Opel's decline, the other looking towards a new economic future.
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