Breaking: GM Board Decides to Keep Opel

[PeteM143]

Originally Posted by Toto

Maybe they're smart, but surely they're no good diplomats. That was the worst time they could choose. Nobody from GM had the time to call Chancellor Merkel to inform her and give her time to find a way out of this debacle? Much went wrong between the US government owned GM and the German government, but both side have fault on this imho.

The real loser here is Opel. Now Opel sits between a pissed off German government and Detroit. I hope it goes well, but I have doubt.

Merkel is the one who made this about politics and not about what was ultimately good for Opel. If I recall, she was trying to appease folks to get re-elected. Well, she won, and these chickens have come home to roost.

Unfortunately, all of Opel will suffer some pain in this deal. GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota and Honda have all done it and Germany/Opel are not immune.

[PeteM143]

Originally Posted by stormwatcher

Sure, move a money losing operation to another country. First, GM would have to pay back the $1.5 billion emergency loan they received from the German govt this year. Then pay billions to shutter the factories, pay severance for tens of thousands of workers and spend billions constructing new factories on a continent already suffering from overcapacity.

That's a plan??

I have read that they only over $990MM out of the 1.5Bn. GM's board isn't dumb and aren't rubber stamps for the GM managers, so I would think they already have these contingencies worked out.

The other thing we don't know is how much GM is making elsewhere as they are now a private company. Ford made 1Bn and didn't do near the restructure that GM did.

[BigC]

Originally Posted by jalberda

Nonsense. Lay-offs were always in the Magna plan, and the unions knew that. They tried to prevent most of those for their members, as is to be expected.They favored the Magna deal over everything else.
Until GM decided not to sell, the unions were cooperating with Magna during the last months.

The Germans think GM made a mess, and don't trust them anymore. Can you really blame them, after a bankruptcy and the mess they made of this whole Opel-saga? GM is back where they started a year ago, but they have lost valuable time, damaged relations with the German government and (car-buying) public and hurt the brand Opel with all these shenanigans.

I get why GM would want to keep Opel, but for now everyone has lost compared to a year ago. "New"GM hardly seems different from old GM. They need different people to fix the company, otherwise the mess will get even bigger in the future.

GM did make a mess, but at the same time GM up until there financial troubles has been pretty good to Europe. Despite it being cheaper to make cars elsewhere GM has kept factories running in Germany. It's funny how none of these employees(not just in Europe) had no problems sucking the company dry. But the second the company is in trouble there loyalty is nowhere to be found.

If these unions are going to fight GM. Not only will it not change anything for the better, but instead will just make an already bad situation much worse for everyone. Good luck to them.

[voyager]

This evening an important Dutch paper (if you're interested) wrote that GM keeping Opel is a better deal than Magna buying Opel. A takeover by the Canadian firm would probably end in bankruptcy on the long run, and will probably cost the German government a lot more money. I guess the pain for the Germans is in not briefing Angela Merkel beforehand. It made her look, well, stupid.... after months of negotiating.

[MrMax]

Savvy move here. Glad to see GM spinning its tires all this time ended up being for the right reasons. That being, they didn't want to lose Opel.

This investment, if done correctly, should pay for itself rather quickly.

[70eldo]

Wow, I am not going to read all the rant on anti-american and anti-european.

I think a big influence on the tension between Opel and GM is the Opel Labour Leader Klaus Franz. If one is hardheaded anti-GM then he is.
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/magna...shocks-germany

Since Opel has been married with GM for over 70 years now, it is hard to imagine a complete cut-off from GM. It would be in the best interest for Opel and GM to sit at the table and talk restructuring to make Opel better.

I think it is really sad and stubborn to go strike about the 'return' of GM. German Opel workers should better speak up for a correct restructuring and be willing to CHANGE for the good and the future.