Opel


GM swings the axe: 9,000 Opel jobs likely to be eliminated

General Motors shouldn't expect to achieve David Hasselhoff-level popularity in Germany anytime soon. The Detroit News reports that since GM has elected to keep and restructure its Opel division, 9,000 jobs (or somewhere thereabouts) will likely be cut, with the majority of those losses expected in Deutschland. The jobs will be eliminated as part of a $5 billion restructuring plan, which GM hopes to fund with a lot of help from European governments, as well as "employee contributions" (read: concessions). Just don't expect Angela Merkel to ... Read more →

Rumormill: Bob Lutz drops more Buick Regal GS, high performance wagon hints Jonny Lieberman

While we were talking about the Escalade EXT launch with Susan Docherty (don't ask) during the Regal reveal at the Hollywood Palladium last week, Car & Driver's Steve Siler was pushing Maximum ...

REPORT: Germany wants GM's plan for Opel - and a billion dollars - "quickly" Jonathon Ramsey

General Motors' bouleversement on the sale of its Opel brand has caused the European head of Opel vacate his office, the head of Opel labor to gulp "a bottle of wine" to get over the shock, the ...

GM Executive VP Nick Reilly named interim CEO at Opel/Vauxhall Noah Joseph

It's been one heck of a week for Opel. After months of negotiations between Magna and its partners on the one hand and General Motors on the other, the American parent company opted to hold on to ...

REPORT: Ex-Opel chief Carl-Peter Forster may take over at Jaguar-Land Rover Sam Abuelsamid

It appears that outgoing Opel chief Carl-Peter Forster may have already lined up a new gig for himself. According to The Times of London, Forster will become an employee of Tata Motors and take ...

REPORT: Lutz to step in as interim Opel chairman 28 days ago on Autoblog

Just hours before General Motors announced that it wasn't going to sell Opel, GM Europe head Carl-Peter Forster said publicly that Opel would be better off under the control of Magna. Talk about bad timing. Now that GM is keeping Opel, Forster is out as the head of the General's European ...

REPORT: Opel President Carl-Peter Forster quits after sale collapse 1 month ago on Autoblog

German magazine Der Spiegel is reporting this morning that Opel President Carl-Peter Forster has resigned from General Motors following the board's decision to kill the sale of a majority stake to Magna International. Apparently, Forster was disgusted at the way that GM officials handled the ...

Germany not happy with GM abandoning Opel sale 1 month ago on Autoblog

It was an exhausting 7-month process that finally winnowed down a pool of suitors for Opel, General Motors' European subsidiary, to Canadian parts maker Magna and Russian bank Sberbank. The deal was all set to go through, but GM pulled the plug yesterday at the 11th hour, claiming that because ...

BREAKING: GM board opts to call off Opel sale 1 month ago on Autoblog

After months of negotiations with supplier Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank, General Motors has decided not to sell its Opel unit. The General mentioned in the post-jump press release that the new board of directors came to the decision to keep Opel due to GM's recovering financial ...

Opel sale on hold, GM asked to have a word with EU Commission 1 month ago on Autoblog

The EU's Directorate-General for Competition (EUDGC) is looking at the Opel deal that should have been concluded already, and is asking questions of Germany and GM. Principally it is trying to resolve the issue of state aid; it was reported before that if Opel was purchased by Magna then the ...

Frankfurt 2009: Opel Astra makes its debut under the lights 2 months ago on Autoblog

By now, you've likely already seen official shots of the 2010 Opel Astra, both inside and out. Of course, catching a glimpse of a new shape under the harsh lighting of an auto show often brings a different point of view than the automaker's own glitzy press shots. In the case of the latest ...

Frankfurt 2009: Bring us the 2010 Opel Insignia OPC Sports Tourer 2 months ago on Autoblog

Remember this? "More wagons! More wagons!" Well, here's another. Meet the Opel Insignia OPC Sports Tourer. Salient facts: 325-horsepower turbocharged 2.8-liter V6, AWD, six-speed manual, eLSD torque vectoring and it's a station wagon. Oh, and get this -- it's built from off the shelf GM parts. ...

You didn't think the battle for Opel was over, did you? Belgium reportedly asking EU to investigate 2 months ago on Autoblog

When GM decided to hand 55% of Opel to Magna, you didn't think the Belgians were just going to have some waffles and call it quits, did you? Oh no. Belgium's prime minister made a call to the EU president about the deal, and the EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told a Belgian newspaper, ...

BREAKING: GM board recommends coughing up 55% Opel stake to Magna, Sberbank 2 months ago on Autoblog

Finally, after what seems like an eternity of protracted negotiations, bickering and stalling tactics, General Motors has agreed to sell a majority stake in its European operations to Magna International and its Russian financial partner Sberbank. Under the terms of the deal, 55% of Opel and ...

GM would rather have Opel, Vauxhall fall into insolvency than sell to Magna? 2 months ago on Autoblog

While General Motors was going through its 42 day bankruptcy period, one of the stories that didn't receive much play was the sale of GM's Opel brand. The major players in the Opel sale appear to be the German government, Canadian supplier Magna and Belgian private investor RHJ International. ...

VIDEO: Another reason to watch rallying: Burcu Cetinkaya 2 months ago on Autoblog

Move over Sabine Schmitz. It's been nice, but looks like us gross internet troll types have a new hot-shoed hottie to leer and drool over. Meet Burcu Cetinkaya. She's 28-years-old and she's a rally driver. First of all, Burcu starts of by explaining that her dream car at 18 was an Opel Calibra ...

REPORT: Opel labor union goes on the offensive, GM negotiator meets with German feds 3 months ago on Autoblog

The battle for Opel has added another front: Opel labor unions at two of the company's German factories retracted an agreement made last year to forgo vacation bonuses. The move demands that General Motors pay the laborers €70 million ($100.2M U.S.) by next week, the amount that they agreed to ...

GM issues a 'No-Decision' on fate of Opel, German government not happy 3 months ago on Autoblog

General Motors was meant to decide who would be the winning bidder for Opel last Friday. But it didn't. Instead, GM asked the German government for more information on federal financial assistance available to buyers. The German government would like Magna to take over Opel as it vowed to retain a ...

RHJ ups offer for Opel, commits to Vauxhall, has "good chances of winning" 3 months ago on Autoblog

Belgian investment firm RHJ, once considered a back-up bidder for Opel, is now considered a front-runner – at least according to its own CEO. RHJ head Leonhard Fischer has already told U.K. officials that the company is committed to retaining the Vauxhall name, and speaking to German ...

Opel fate still up in the air as Russian involvement reportedly complicates Magna offer 4 months ago on Autoblog

Over on General Motors' Europe "Driving Conversations" blog, VP John Smith has posted an update on the company's negotiations to sell a majority stake in Opel and Vauxhall. Although no final decision has been made yet, it's looking increasingly likely that the previous tentative agreement with ...

REPORT: Opel, waiting on GM and the German government, heading toward bankruptcy 4 months ago on Autoblog

There are five noteworthy parties involved in the negotiations over Opel's fate: GM, the German government, the Opel trust, states with Opel manufacturing plants, and the Opel labor union. The Opel trust is the body created to run Opel after GM's bankruptcy, and consists of five members: a ...

German economics minister reportedly says no to Opel buy-back option for GM 4 months ago on Autoblog

One of the many clauses that General Motors is reportedly trying negotiate into any deal involving majority control of Opel is the option to eventually buy back the stake it is selling. As the theory goes, GM isn't selling Opel because it feels like it doesn't add value – Opel in fact offers ...

Beijing Automotive bids for Opel; Magna still expected to close deal 5 months ago on Autoblog

Even though Beijing Automotive (BAIC) tendered a non-binding offer for Opel, the company is said to have no chance of actually acquiring the brand. General Motors is still in talks with Magna and its partners, GAZ and Sberbank, and according to Sberbank CEO German Graf, "The choice has been made ...

Marchionne confirms Fiat still interested in Opel 5 months ago on Autoblog

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, watching the travails of GM, Opel and Magna from his comfy Italian perch, has sent word that his previous offer for Opel is still on the table if anyone is interested. That offer, though, can't be sweetened because he doesn't "believe we could improve Fiat's offer. It's ...

GM worried about Magna deal for Opel, sign backup deal with RHJ, Beijing Automotive 5 months ago on Autoblog

When it came to buying Opel, Fiat's Sergio Marchionne told GM and the German government: "If you have a better offer, take it." They both took Magna, along with its Russian partners Sberbank and GAZ, because that consortium offered a better competitive arrangement and fewer job cuts in Germany. The ...

Rendered Speculation: Vauxhall Astra droptop to get more rakish 5 months ago on Autoblog

If you're like us, you can't help but smile at the breathless optimism and certainty that the folks at Auto Express have for not-yet-released models. The latest car to catch their rendering artist's eye is the forthcoming Vauxhall Astra droptop. According to AE, the new convertible Roadster variant ...

REPORT: Opel to cut prices 40% in order to save jobs? 5 months ago on Autoblog

Sometimes deals get made, and then the dealmakers have to employ some pretty creative tactics to get the terms to work. Magna's deal for Opel included taking €1.5 billion in short term loans from the German government, the string attached being that Magna had to guarantee German jobs. Saving ...

Opel pulls the wraps off the 2010 Astra's interior 5 months ago on Autoblog

Although we're still a few months away from seeing the 2010 Opel Astra in the flesh at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the automaker has released a bevy of interior images of its new compact hatch following the reveal of the fully redesigned exterior. The new interior takes a huge stride beyond the ...

Opel stake could give Russian automaker an injection of "know-how" 6 months ago on Autoblog

If you tried telling us even as recently as a year ago that General Motors would be forced to sell its European assets and that a partnership between a Canadian parts supplier and a Russian bank would step up to take the stake, we'd have probably raised a few eyebrows. But such is the state of the ...

REPORT: VW takes issue with Magna/Opel tie-up 6 months ago on Autoblog

You knew that something like this was coming sooner or later: at least one of Magna's clients have found the supplier's majority stake in Opel to be a conflict of interest. As it turns out, Volkswagen was the first automaker to cry foul. Magna is a major supplier for VW and its brands, while Opel ...

Autoblog Podcast #130 6 months ago on Autoblog

Episode #130 of the Autoblog Podcast sees Chris, Sam, and Dan kibbitzing over the obvious news, but it's not an All-GM-Bankruptcy show. Starting with General Motors (after all, it's a huge event) we move on to Magna's deal with Opel (and GM, coincidentally). Volvo's clever implementation of a ...

Magna wants to build Opels in Canada, possibly to supply Saturn? 6 months ago on Autoblog

Over the last several years, and until General Motors' finances dictated that the Saturn brand had to be dispensed with entirely, it had become the North American outlet for Opel vehicles. Aside from the Outlook, all of Saturn's current models are based on their Opel equivalents. The most ...

German government approves majority sale of Opel to Magna, Russians 6 months ago on Autoblog

With General Motors expected to file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on Monday morning, negotiators in Germany scrambled to finalize a deal to save Opel from insolvency. Following a six-hour meeting in the German Chancellor's office in Berlin on Friday evening, a deal was finally ...

BREAKING: BBC says Magna has agreed to take majority stake in Opel from GM 6 months ago on Autoblog

According to the BBC News, supplier Magna International has come to terms with General Motors to purchase a majority stake in its European Opel division. While an agreement has been reached between the two parties, the German government – which has agreed to provide financial assistance for ...

REPORT: Opel's 'preferred' buyer(s) expected to be named mid-week 6 months ago on Autoblog

It looks like the German government is about to announce its list of preferred bidders for Opel this week, and the list is likely to include Fiat and Magna. Why would this list be coming from Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman and not, say, GM? Because the German government will have to step in ...

REPORT: Magna eyeing Saturn 6 months ago on Autoblog

Magna tried and lost when Chrysler was for sale. Pulling a Marchionne, Magna's now trying to win GM Europe's Opel division for itself, and rumor is that Saturn is also on the shopping list. GM would get much-needed capital for the transactions, but it could also be facing its old properties as new ...

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