General Motors' may not be cut job form their Vauxhall factories

General Motors' head of operations in Europe has suggested job losses at its two Vauxhall factories in the UK may not be as bad as initially feared. Nick Reilly met Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and the Unite union. It was the first face-to-face meeting between GM bosses and ministers since the US firm decided not to sell Opel, including Vauxhall, earlier this month. Mr Reilly said there may be a chance to "quite significantly" reduce the 800 job cuts previously expected. Canadian car-parts maker Magna, which had agreed to buy Opel, had originally estimated 800 job losses in the UK as part of its takeover plans. GM has indicated it plans to cut as many as 10 , 000 jobs in Europe. Meeting reactions Mr Reilly told the BBC that the company was unsure about whether it would shut entire plants. "We need to reduce capacity overall in the 20 % area," he said. Mr Reilly also expects Opel to return to profitability by 2011. Lord Mandelson wanted to discuss GM's intentions for the Luton and Ellesmere Port Vauxhall factories. They employ 5 ,500 people and GM has described them as "lean and efficient". After the meeting he said the government would give some loans to GM, though it had not decided on the amounts. The Unite union did not discuss its meeting with Mr Reilly. GM first said in March that it wanted to sell Opel when the US firm entered a period of bankruptcy protection that eventually saw it emerge with the US government as its biggest shareholder. GM agreed to sell the brands to Magna in September, but it cancelled the sale earlier this month citing "an improving business environment for GM over the past few months". Opel employs a total of 54 ,000 workers across Europe, with 25 ,000 based in Germany.