Word: opels
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...Great historic forces once spread from Eisenach, where Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German to drive the Reformation. Today, this town of 40,000 is notable for the more prosaic fact that it's at the receiving end of a chilling secular influence: slowing demand for automobiles. Opel, a European subsidiary of the beleaguered American giant General Motors, is the town's biggest employer - and when Opel's in trouble, so is Eisenach...
Until June, the local Opel plant was enjoying a record year as Germany's economy hummed healthily along. In April, the company turned up the speed on its assembly lines to churn out even more cars. Instead of shutting as usual for three weeks during the summer, Opel closed the plant for just two and hired temps to supplement its full-time workforce...
...that spells trouble for the likes of BMW, Mercedes Benz, Porsche, Volkswagen, Ford Europe and General Motors' Europe arm, Opel. Ferdinand Dudenhoffer, a respected industry analyst, predicts that the number of new German cars delivered to customers in 2008 will fall by at least 100,000 units to around 3.1 million, and will likely slip below three million next year. As a result, he says, German car companies will have to cut up to 20,000 jobs over the coming year...
...German manufacturers are already cutting back production. On Oct. 13, Opel workers in the eastern German town of Eisenach will stay home for three weeks as GM Europe tries to adjust to falling demand for its cars. Opel was one of the first western firms to set up shop in Eisenach after the fall of the wall in 1989. The factory, which employs some 1,800 people, now produces GM's popular Corsa model for export around Europe and beyond. The town (population 40,000) has also become home to suppliers such as component maker Bosch, machine servicing firm Hormann...
...Iraqi witness to the event who also drives the airport road each day for work said he was approaching Mehdi's Opel from a distance when the Americans fired. "I was about 400 meters behind the car, and suddenly I saw dust coming up because the Americans were firing. When I saw what was happening, I braked and started to put the car in reverse," said the man, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. "One bullet penetrated the dashboard on my car. I turned the car around and drove back in the wrong direction, telling other cars...