GM to Sell Opel and Vauxhall to VW?

Sell 'em and give the money to the government. Fat chance.

The European arm is the only part of GM that does remotely interesting vehicles. If Opel gets sold, the entire enterprise will be defunct within a decade.

ummm, that seems not so smart. We've got these great opel vehicles to bring over to the US but lets sell that part off and stop doing that....

The chances seem slim as makes no sense for VW and makes little sense for GM. Look at the struggles VW is having with Seat and Skoda. Why add another two brands that are competitors? I can see GM needing to rid itself of a cash drain but they might as well close Buick if they sell Opel.

Previously, GM almost sold Opel to Magna, but backed off at the last minute over the issue of intellectual property rights. The sale of Opel is almost inevitable at some point in the future, but to whom remains to be seen. In the meantime, they are investing heavily in expanding the Chevrolet brand in Europe.

Car companies need to stop buying each other up and concentrate on developing what they have.

Buying your way into a market almost never works out in anyones favour but they keep doing it.

Hey if the sell Opel then they can bring back the Electra 225 with fender skirts again! Or mabye badge-engineered Aveos!

Opel and Vauxhall are probably not part of GM's strategic plan to raise the fuel tax by $1/gallon to increase hybrid sales and get GM's corporate fuel economy average up. More boring shitboxes on the way, IOW.

If they sell Opel where will all of the new Buick's come from?

"If they sell Opel where will all of the new Buick's come from? "

Har har har. How many of the new Buick's came from Opel?

Wasn't the last car they brought from Opel the Saturn Astra? How much money did they lose on that car?

GM is making money on Buick and losing money on Opel.

"It should also be noted that American GM cars share platforms with Opels, while the Buick Regal is essentially a rebadged Opel Insignia"

sdtundra858, were you replying to me? Yes, one new Buick is based on an Opel. As far as I know, that's the only one.

Maybe this is so that everyone will stop saying they are just rebadging their cars from Europe. lol

Now this would be interesting, and would likely make VW the biggest car company in the world. They would own some of the best selling vehicles in Europe.

That said though, if VW were to acquire both of them, they NEED to keep the VW/Audi engineering and Vauxhall/Opel engineering divisions separate. keep the two companies as separate as possible in the hopes that they continue to garner the sales that both do. it will also help both companies t stay competitive with one another and help both companies' products be very competitive...step-sibling rivalry, if you will.

Also, with VW in charge of Vauhall/Opel, at least ONE of them needs to make their way over here to the states.

On a side note...GM should definitely consider bringing Holden to the states. It will help increase their product portfolio with a breed of cars that really don't exist in their other brands here.

Opel (GM Europe) as it exists is not a viable business model as a non-luxury brand with production & R&D in high-cost Germany, now that markets are open & there is lower cost foreign (from outside of Europe) competition. GM needs to cut more jobs and other costs, modernize plants and make them more efficient... Meaning they can produce more cars more quickly with fewer workers and with more flexible production. There are many sales incentives in Europe, meaning there is strong price competition. In order for Opel to compete AND make a profit then production costs have to come down and other efficiencies & cost saving found while still investing in product developement & improvements. The new product is good, I will say... sure there is room for improvements, but that is always the case and they need to continue improving product, but the new products are quite good for their price range. Other automakers (and also Chevrolet) are producing in eartern europe, S Korea & now the joint ventures in Russia, automobiles for sale in the EU. Since Europe is allowing this, it's only fair that GM be allowed to do the same... this is the free market and if Opels German production plants cannot become efficient enough to compete the GM may need to close some of them and employ workers that are. GM has restructured it's North American ops, layed off many workers, closed some factories, moderized others, got rid of brands it did not need & is now a more efficient operation...closer in line w the competition. Now the division is profitable again & is introducing more good, competitive products over time. GM's Europe division needs further restructuring. The product is good but they need to cut more costs and increase efficiency. Regardless how many cars Opel sells outside of Europe (which would be produce outside of Europe), the fact of the matter is that the cars Opel/Vauxhall produces, markets and sells in Europe cannot cost more than they are sold for & that's what's happening now. From a business standpoint, it's clear what is needed.

There is nothing they could sell under holden that they could not sell under Chevrolet a full-size RWD Holden-based sedan will be sold under Chevrolet brand in the future. The solution for GM is not to add brands, but to offer better and better products under their existing brands.

If I were GM I would not give up ground and have an Opel or Vauxhall brand under owership by another automaker show up on my domestic market's shores. Without Opel/Vauxhall GM has no sales in Europe to speak of. Overall GM is profitable... over $3 billion in profit globally last year so they have some breathing room. I think it is in GM's best interests to do some serious restructuring of GM Europe to cut costs... That's what will happen under VW or the Chinese... it simply cannot continue the way it is... With VW there would be serious duplications when it comes to powertrains for example... No need to have 2 - 2.0T engine plants or 2 - 6psd automatic plants or 2 - 6spd manual plants or 2 - 2.4-2.5L engines just to name a few example... major cost-cutting an layoffs would occur anyways under VW.

"Opel and Vauxhall are probably not part of GM's strategic plan to raise the fuel tax by $1/gallon to increase hybrid sales and get GM's corporate fuel economy average up. More boring shitboxes on the way, IOW."

Yes, because a company that profits greatly from the sales of pickup trucks and large car- and truck-based SUVs want's the price of gas to go up. this is despite the fact that GM has five "full hybrids," two "mild hybrids", and an EREV, none of which are volume sellers in any stretch of the mind (though the LaCrosse and Regal hybrids may prove to be decent sellers, they are no Priuses).

A VW MERCEDES WOW

It is a big mistake to sell Opel/Vauxhall to anyone