GM Europe to Invest Euro 9 Billion in Opel

[Rocket 88]

Originally Posted by dav305z

This is where the Saturn/Opel sharing pays off. GM can invest more than they ever would have in Saturn or Opel alone and still save. The result is better cars for both of them.

One of the great (potential) benefits is that Opel will provide completely different products then what is traditionally shared between Chevy, GMC, Buick and Pontiac (sometimes Cadillac too) so instead of just creating clones this allows for really unique products.

Hopefully, if the products are right and start selling in larger quantities the number of Saturn Dealerships will increase. I'm still surprised GM doesn't want to share Saturn & Saab dealerships.

[plane]

But what is it going to take to get Saturn sales to reach appropriate levels?
We had the chance to spend a week with an Aura and it is a great vehicle.
Opel is going gangbusters and has helped lead GM's resurgence in Europe.
How can Saturn make it work in North America?

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

Originally Posted by prototype66

That is fantastic news for GM as a whole. The Saturn brand will surely flourish with the constant influx of technology and new models.

Not just Saturn. I'd like to see Chevy get some sexy Opels for it's lineup as well. Namely in the high-teen to high-$20k range. Namely smaller sexy coupes to target the college-educated Stateside Gen Y consumer.

[Bravada]

1. Please note Aura has nuffink and nuffink to do with Opel. It is halfway (or 3/4 way) on the evolution path between G6 and Malibu. Pure American engineering - give credit where due!

2. Actually, what happens now is just that the "base" Opels and Chevrolets become one, which will probably spread to entry-level cars from other brands (obviously Saturn and SAAB, perhaps Pontiac and Buick). It will be platform-sharing reloaded.

[avdberg]

So GME invests 9 billion euros in Opel? And how much are they investing in Saab? Probably very little.

[Elk]

“Opel will also invest Euro 900 million in its Rüsselsheim plant where GM hopes to build a new generation of upper midsize cars of which the Insignia is the first. The Bochum, Kaiserslautern and Eisenach plants also receive considerable fund injections.”

What are they thinking, is GM trying to lose money? These plants (correct me if I’m wrong) are all in western Europe. GM should be shutting these plants down, not putting more money into them. With the way the Euro vs dollar is going being able to make money exporting cars form these plants will be impossible.

The cars GM sells in Europe should be made in at least in eastern Europe, if not America, Canada or Mexico.

[Toto]

Originally Posted by Elk

“Opel will also invest Euro 900 million in its Rüsselsheim plant where GM hopes to build a new generation of upper midsize cars of which the Insignia is the first. The Bochum, Kaiserslautern and Eisenach plants also receive considerable fund injections.”

What are they thinking, is GM trying to lose money? These plants (correct me if I’m wrong) are all in western Europe. GM should be shutting these plants down, not putting more money into them. With the way the Euro vs dollar is going being able to make money exporting cars form these plants will be impossible.

The cars GM sells in Europe should be made in at least in eastern Europe, if not America, Canada or Mexico.

These are german plants and Germany is the biggest market for Opel. Trust me, that isn't a good idea if Opel build all cars outside of Germany.

[gardnet1]

Originally Posted by Elk

“Opel will also invest Euro 900 million in its Rüsselsheim plant where GM hopes to build a new generation of upper midsize cars of which the Insignia is the first. The Bochum, Kaiserslautern and Eisenach plants also receive considerable fund injections.”

What are they thinking, is GM trying to lose money? These plants (correct me if I’m wrong) are all in western Europe. GM should be shutting these plants down, not putting more money into them. With the way the Euro vs dollar is going being able to make money exporting cars form these plants will be impossible.

The cars GM sells in Europe should be made in at least in eastern Europe, if not America, Canada or Mexico.

Don't forget GME has sizable operations in Antwerp Belgium and Trolhatten Sweden. All are high cost plants. GM should first shutter Trolhatten assembly and just keep the Design studio there for Saab. Right now about the only thing the plant will produce once the new vehicles come online (Epsilon II?) is a Euro Cadillac BRX or something like that. VW, Fiat, Ford and others are moving into Eastern Europe, so GME will have to do so gracefully and gradually.

Mexico has free trade agreements with NA, SA, EU and parts of Asia, so they are a good candidate for production of niche models.

[Bravada]

What are they thinking, is GM trying to lose money? These plants (correct me if I’m wrong) are all in western Europe. GM should be shutting these plants down, not putting more money into them.

First GM should close all American plants. What were they thinking? Unions, healthcare costs. Just pull the roots up and move out from the US, GM, you stupid.

Seriously, I don't believe one should blindly follow "cheap labour". Poland used to be a cheap labour country, but with the latest increase in wages over the last few years, we've lost quite a bit of this advantage, and will surely continue to. So then, close plants in Poland, move to Ukraine. Then China. Then what - India? Pakistan?

Rather than that, I believe there is a lot of improvement potential in plant automation and efficiency. I'd certainly keep Trollhattan assembly - I don't want a SAAB from Ruesselsheim! Mazda, for one, automatized Hofu 1 and 2 so much that they are able to export profitably from there rather than move compact production to Europe/America, like Toyo and Honda did.

[SierraGS]

Originally Posted by Bravada

First GM should close all American plants. What were they thinking? Unions, healthcare costs. Just pull the roots up and move out from the US, GM, you stupid.

Seriously, I don't believe one should blindly follow "cheap labour". Poland used to be a cheap labour country, but with the latest increase in wages over the last few years, we've lost quite a bit of this advantage, and will surely continue to. So then, close plants in Poland, move to Ukraine. Then China. Then what - India? Pakistan?

Rather than that, I believe there is a lot of improvement potential in plant automation and efficiency. I'd certainly keep Trollhattan assembly - I don't want a SAAB from Ruesselsheim! Mazda, for one, automatized Hofu 1 and 2 so much that they are able to export profitably from there rather than move compact production to Europe/America, like Toyo and Honda did.

Following "cheap labor" is what got GM into most of it's recent problems.

Constant focus on locating and managing logistics and production moves from location to location drains capitol and management talent that would be better spent identifying market opportunities and coordinating design of vehicles to be cost efficient when made in several different areas instead of one central "cheap" place.

GM has recently put the focus of designing a world car from the start with a plan of how it would be sold globally and have things improved - still a LONG way to go. I agree with keeping SAAB production in Trollhattan, with the right product and plant improvements GM can make vehicles profitably.

Another "wild card" in the whole global manufacturing game is the currency market with constant ups and downs - what make sense today is a bad move tomorrow. The U.S. plants look good today but with the Fed stopping the interest cuts it will stabilize and go back up - how high I do not know, but it will rebound, although I am all for more U.S. manufactured vehicles.

The best long term plan is to build products in the country where the greatest sales volume for them is - granted this is not a universal rule and there can be exceptions but it will work more often than not.

[dav305z]

Originally Posted by Rocket 88

I'm still surprised GM doesn't want to share
Saturn & Saab dealerships.

Me too, actually. It would benefit both brands and create the VW/Audi relationship they are lloking for from these brands.

[paul8488]

Articles like this seem silly to me. Of course they're investing money and redesigning their vehicles... that's the way it works in the car industry! Why do they put a figure on it like this? They need to always, constantly spending money.

[Elk]

Originally Posted by Toto

These are german plants and Germany is the biggest market for Opel. Trust me, that isn't a good idea if Opel build all cars outside of Germany.

What are Opel's world wide sale numbers and what are their sales numbers in Germany?

I’m asking because the last numbers I saw showed Opel having less then a 10% market share in Germany.

Originally Posted by Bravada

First GM should close all American plants. What were they thinking? Unions, healthcare costs. Just pull the roots up and move out from the US, GM, you stupid.

If you haven’t noticed GM has been slowly doing that for a while now. There are only a hand full of GM vehicles that aren’t build in Canada, Mexico, Korea or have an engine from another country. And the UAW workers, work longer hours and for less pay then any of the Union workers in Eastern European plants.

Originally Posted by Bravada

Seriously, I don't believe one should blindly follow "cheap labour". Poland used to be a cheap labour country, but with the latest increase in wages over the last few years, we've lost quite a bit of this advantage, and will surely continue to. So then, close plants in Poland, move to Ukraine. Then China. Then what - India? Pakistan?

Yes. That’s what GM should be doing. What reason is there not to? If GM can build the same cars they are building in eastern Europe in India for less why shouldn’t they? GM is an American company there is no patriotic reason for GM to keep plants in eastern Europe.

When there is a story about GM designing cars in Germany and someone complains about jobs leaving America the response it always “get used to it GM is a globe company”. Let’s apply that thinking to those ridiculously expensive eastern European plants.

[Elk]

Originally Posted by SierraGS

Another "wild card" in the whole global manufacturing game is the currency market with constant ups and downs - what make sense today is a bad move tomorrow. The U.S. plants look good today but with the Fed stopping the interest cuts it will stabilize and go back up - how high I do not know, but it will rebound, although I am all for more U.S. manufactured vehicles.

It wouldn’t be a “wild card” if GM moved the plants to a cheaper county within the EU.

[Bravada]

Let’s apply that thinking to those ridiculously expensive eastern European plants.

Where did you get "ridiclously expensive" from?

And the UAW workers, work longer hours and for less pay then any of the Union workers in Eastern European plants.

An assembly worker in the Gliwice earns something like $2K (gross! - before income tax, social security and all the stuff that eats up half of your income) monthly ($24K annually). If you tell me somebody works for that money assembling cars in Lansing or Oshawa, I will personally send the said worker a big parcel of Polish mead.

If GM can build the same cars they are building in eastern Europe in India for less why shouldn’t they?

Logistics, quality issues, sourcing issues - which ultimately might mean they wouldn't be so cheap. GM DAT managed to service most of their market from Korea until recently, same for Mazda and Japan.

GM is an American company there is no patriotic reason for GM to keep plants in eastern Europe.

Of course, GM should be a patriotic American company - and we Europeans should shun their products immediately. Puhleeze!