German car maker Adam Opel AG today said it was shutting down production at its Eisenach plant for three weeks as global financial turmoil led to flagging demand for its vehicles.

General Motors Corp has no plans to merge Adam Opel AG with GM's Zurich-based European headquarters, GM Europe head Robert Lutz has said in a pre-release of an interview with weekly German newspaper WirtschaftsWoche.

The struggling European operation of General Motors will cut some 1,600 jobs in a restructuring programme announced earlier this year, the chairman of its German-based Adam Opel AG unit said.