6.11.2002
GME and Opel honored by the Province of Vienna

Mike Burns, GME President and Hans Barth, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Adam Opel AG were presented with the "Golden Decoration of Honor for Services to the Province of Vienna".

Dr. Sepp Rieder, the City Councilor of Finance and Vice Mayor of Vienna, presented Mike Burns, GME President and Hans Barth, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Adam Opel AG on November 5 with the "Golden Decoration of Honor for Services to the Province of Vienna".

"The decision to invest 340 million Euro in the production of a new family of transmissions in Vienna-Aspern not only secures existing jobs but also provides proof of the appeal Vienna has as a location for international entrepreneurs," said Rieder. He presented the decorations to Mike Burns and Hans Barth with the words, "The city and province of Vienna wish to document their appreciation and recognition with these decorations."

Mike Burns took an integral leadership role in driving the Aspern plant to achieve high standards of efficiency and quality. This has led the Aspern Powertrain site to become highly competitive site. "The quality, excellent qualifications and the dedication of the Aspern employees are well-known and respected at GME," said Burns.

During the early planning stages for the plant Hans Barth was a strong supporter and can be described as one of the founding fathers of this successful site. Barth was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Opel Austria before joining the board of Opel Austria Powertrain in 1995 where he served until July 2002.

In 2001, the approximately 2,100 Opel Austria Powertrain GmbH employees achieved a turnover of approximately one million Euro. In the past year, 860,000 transmissions, 440,000 engines and an additional 240,000 cylinder heads were produced, all of which were exported. Since the launch of production in 1982, export revenues total 14 billion Euro with planned investments to exceed two billion Euro by 2004.