Berlin  - General Motors' chief Fritz Henderson arrived in Germany Monday ahead of the giant US carmaker unveiling of plans for a major restructuring of its European Opel offshoot.

Henderson visit to Opel's headquarters in the west German city of Ruesselsheim comes less than a week after GM announced that it was abandoning moves to sell off a majority stake in its European operations.

Instead, GM now plans to restructure its European unit itself, which includes operations in Poland, Spain, Belgium as well as Britain's Vauxhall brand.

The Detroit-based group is expected to set out this week details of its proposed Opel revamp, which is likely to result in GM slashing Opel's more-than 50,000 European workforce by 10,000.

Company sources told the German Press Agency dpa that Henderson would be initially holding internal company talks on Opel's future.

But unions are also concerned that GM plans to close plants with the Opel factory in the Belgium city of Antwerp in particular seen to be facing an uncertain future.

Another key question facing Opel is the issue of state support for the GM unit to help it forge ahead with restructuring.(dpa)