Adam Opel, the European brand of General Motors, is targeting second place in deliveries in the region in the coming years as new models attract buyers.

Thousands of employees at General Motors’ European plants staged protests today against the plan to slash 12,000 jobs across the continent, while a shortage of parts from a striking German plant forced two other factories to stop production.

Angry workers at an Opel car plant in Germany remained on unofficial strike today, continuing their protest against plans by parent company General Motors for thousands of job cuts and defying calls from union leaders and the government to return to work.