In a rather bizarre situation it has been revealed, by company sources, that the GM Europe German division will see workers receive a £3600 Christmas bonus (equating to £90 million in total for the 25,000 people involved) while those working for the UK Vauxhall offshoot have been forced to take a 5% pay cut. Despite what appeared to be good news only a few days ago regarding the Vauxhall operation in the UK, it now seems as though there is some short-term favouritism towards the GM Europe German division.

However, while it is easy to get tied up in the short-term situation regarding bonus payments in Germany and salary reductions in the UK, the long-term picture would appear to be more favourable in the UK at least. The UK government has taken a very hands-on approach to the situation and is willing to inject hundreds of millions of pounds into the UK offshoot in order to secure thousands of jobs in the medium to longer term. On the other hand, the German authorities have proved rather adept at "putting their foot in it" and many believe the medium to long term relationship between GM Europe, GM and the German authorities will be very difficult to maintain.

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