GM Europe head 'quits following Opel U-turn'

[tombalas]

Originally Posted by MaxLegroom

As for the other, why build cars in the U.S. when the new plants seem to end up in low wage countries like Mexico? Answer that one and you'll understand why.

Legacy and politics are the only reasons why GM continues to manufacture here - particularly in the northern states. The point I was trying to make is that most carmakers choose places where labor is cheaper and more readily exploited.

There is no real difference in quality. I'd bet the quality between a German-assembled Opel and a Polish version are similar - much as a Mexican GM car and its US-assembled cousin are likely similar.

Heck, even Toyota would shut down all of their Japanese factories and move production to China if it could get away with such a stunt.

That's turbo-capitalism for ya! Love that phrase by Opel's union boss.

[mbukukanyau]

Originally Posted by dracleath

Not sure what your point really is here. The NA epsilon 1 is for all intents and purposes the European epsilon 1 just stretched a bit. The Vectra and its descendants were an absolute joke in Europe. It was a joke when it was the G6 in the US. It wasn't until Saturn and Chevrolet modified the platform, redid the interiors, etc that it was competitive at all.

It wasn't until the Insignia and Epsilon 2 that Epsilon was a critical success or competitive in Europe.

Exactly, Chevy North America turned a Mediocre opel platform into something great with the Malibu.

[GTOken]

Originally Posted by Hoboken Tim

Boy, would I like to see Pontiac return as a niche performance brand.

I would too. Just not under the GM umbrella.

[Burnout Czar]

Originally Posted by tombalas

Legacy and politics are the only reasons why GM continues to manufacture here - particularly in the northern states. The point I was trying to make is that most carmakers choose places where labor is cheaper and more readily exploited.

There is no real difference in quality. I'd bet the quality between a German-assembled Opel and a Polish version are similar - much as a Mexican GM car and its US-assembled cousin are likely similar.

Heck, even Toyota would shut down all of their Japanese factories and move production to China if it could get away with such a stunt.

That's turbo-capitalism for ya! Love that phrase by Opel's union boss.

Umm, I highly doubt Toyota would close down their Japanese facilities and move them Toyota if they could, they are very loyal to their motherland and if this were the case why wouldn't they move them to the US as our labor rate is much cheaper? It makes to sense to manufacture where you sell because you build up loyalty, but it also makes sense from an economic standpoint. Increased demand for a hot product just spool up the local factories, importing across and ocean wont allow you to meet demand that fast.

Originally Posted by GTOken

I would too. Just not under the GM umbrella.

Get over it, Pontiac is dead and isn't coming back. I bought my G8 because I like GM cars, it just happened to be a Pontiac. Since Pontiac is gone I will have to switch to another GM brand, but I'll figure it out when its time.

If there are any traitors still left at Opel or anywhere else within GM hopefully they will be escorted off the premises.

[jcgable]

Originally Posted by tombalas

That's turbo-capitalism for ya! Love that phrase by Opel's union boss.

I believe that it was a German elected official who was quoted as saying that, not anyone directly affiliated w/ GM or the unions.

[mbukukanyau]

Originally Posted by jcgable

I believe that it was a German elected official who was quoted as saying that, not anyone directly affiliated w/ GM or the unions.

You got to understand that there is a deeply engrained elitist culture in Europe of soft socialism that has a misconception of the United States as this sort of wild west industrial revolution type business enviroment.
There is also elitist envy, a feeling that Americans are not sophisticated enough to understand and lead becouse for some reason, their streets are not covered with old stones.. just plain european stupidity...

European elitist socialists that run the place are usually people who have gotten into power by carreers in institutional enviroment, without much grounding in practical risk taker type enviroment like you would find in america.

They view the world not as composed of individual liberty and initiative, but as a commune of interdependency.

There is also bitterness that an American upstart is calling the shots on a "german brand"...

[Burnout Czar]

Originally Posted by mbukukanyau

You got to understand that there is a deeply engrained elitist culture in Europe of soft socialism that has a misconception of the United States as this sort of wild west industrial revolution type business enviroment.
There is also elitist envy, a feeling that Americans are not sophisticated enough to understand and lead becouse for some reason, their streets are not covered with old stones.. just plain european stupidity...

European elitist socialists that run the place are usually people who have gotten into power by carreers in institutional enviroment, without much grounding in practical risk taker type enviroment like you would find in america.

They view the world not as composed of individual liberty and initiative, but as a commune of interdependency.

There is also bitterness that an American upstart is calling the shots on a "german brand"...

Well said!! The Europeans need to come down off their high horse and remember all we've done for them and that we are still good allies. And how about repaying us all the loans from WWII, as I recall only Finland repaid their loans in full, this makes all the other Europeans countries dead beats.

[Pauli]

That's all great news for VW. Not having their supplier Magna own the competing brand was already phantastic. On top of that comes that Opel has never been perceived more American than now. That might be very bad for the Opel brand in Germany and translate into more sales for VW, because who wants to buy non-German cars, right? :-)

[biggestGMfan]

Originally Posted by mbukukanyau

You got to understand that there is a deeply engrained elitist culture in Europe of soft socialism that has a misconception of the United States as this sort of wild west industrial revolution type business enviroment.
There is also elitist envy, a feeling that Americans are not sophisticated enough to understand and lead becouse for some reason, their streets are not covered with old stones.. just plain european stupidity...

European elitist socialists that run the place are usually people who have gotten into power by carreers in institutional enviroment, without much grounding in practical risk taker type enviroment like you would find in america.

They view the world not as composed of individual liberty and initiative, but as a commune of interdependency.

There is also bitterness that an American upstart is calling the shots on a "german brand"...

I don't know - I lived in Europe and for my part, they came across as very straightforward and non-biased when it came to doing business. They just wanted to get it done.

What you say is good in theory, but seems like a lumping together of multiple personal beliefs, biases, and elements. Socialism? What does it have to do with anything? I'm not sure anyone here really understands the concept very well.

As for "people who have gotten into power by carreers in institutional enviroment," one could interpret that as being more educated.

In my opinion, though, the Opel employees need to calm down, wake up, and figure out whose money they've been using to develop the platforms and the vehicles they've built over the years. Then they need to understand that they're competing in a global marketplace and hence are going against low-labor nations, etc.

It looks to me - from the outside - that the problem is being caused by a few loudly problematic people. Get rid of the bad apples and change the mentality of the company. Then move on! (easier said than done, right?)

[Tstag]

Rumours are that Forster is going to head Jaguar Land Rover or will take a leading role in TATA motors.

Personally I don't think JLR need a change in direction. On the other hand Forster may be just the man if TATA want to develop their own brand to compete with Opel in Europe...