Straightline

The deal to sell Opel is officially off. General Motors announced today it will keep its German subsidiary.

Back in September GM announced it would sell a 55-percent stake in Opel/Vauxhall to the consortium of the Canadian parts supplier Magna and the Russian bank Sberbank (representing the Russian automaker GAZ). Opel employees would have gotten a 10-percent stake and GM would have held onto 35 percent.

But the deal was delayed when the European Union expressed concern that it violated EU law: The German government had promised $6.6 billion in aid to Opel, but only if GM sold its subsidiary to Magna/Sberbank (which were thought to be most amenable to preserving German union jobs). This essentially made other bidders, among them RHJ International, the Belgian affiliate of private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings, less attractive. European press reports indicate that Germany subsequently relented and said it would provide the same aid package to other bidders.

It's not yet clear exactly what role this issue played in today's decision, thought Reuters reports that GM's board met immediately after the EU pressed GM officials to confirm that the company still would have chosen Magna/Sberbank had it known that Germany would have provided aid to any of the bidding companies.

Of course, there's nothing about this matter in GM's press release, in which Fritz Henderson states, "While strained, the business environment in Europe has improved. At the same time, GM's overall financial health and stability have improved significantly over the past few months, giving us confidence that the European business can be successfully restructured."

The release also indicates that GM estimates restructuring costs for Opel at 3 billion euros ($4.4 billion) --"significantly lower than all bids submitted as part of the investor solicitation."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in Washington, DC, this week, so it will be interesting to see if she weighs in on this announcement. The sale of Opel was a hot-button issue during her recent reelection campaign.

Reuters

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Opel

You'll remember last week that the Canadian supplier Magna and the Russian bank Sberbank took over 55 percent ownership of Opel/Vauxhall. GM retained a 35 percent stake, with Opel employees taking the remaining 10 percent.

Yet, an updated version of the Opel Ampera, a four-door, plug-in series hybrid based on the Chevrolet Volt, was still in Opel's booth at Frankfurt (the original version debuted in Geneva). Inside Line spoke with a GM official, who confirmed that the Ampera program is still on.

Categories: Frankfurt Auto Show,Green Tech,Hybrids,Opel

Two weeks ago it seemed doubtful that General Motors would do a deal for Opel with Magna. Today, though, GM announced its support for the sale of a 55-percent stake in Opel (and British Vauxhall) to the Magna-Sberbank consortium.

Magna is the big Canadian parts supplier leading a Russian consortium that includes the state-owned bank, Sberbank, and the Russian automaker GAZ. In the deal, Magna and Sberbank will each get a 27.5-percent stake in Opel, while Opel employees will hold 10 percent, with GM keeping a 35-percent stake.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her approval over the deal. She's facing an election, and the Opel sale is a big political issue in Germany. Of the two bidders, Magna-Sberbank and the Belgian investment firm, RHJ International, the Germans preferred Magna, which is thought to be more amenable to preserving German manufacturing jobs (half of all Opel employees are based in Germany). The fact that Merkel promised government financial backing for a Magna-Sberbank deal is very likely what tipped this in the Russians' favor.

Under this deal, 10,000 jobs will be cut, but only a quarter will be in Germany. This has of course elevated concern among Vauxhall employees in the UK, which is Opel's second-largest country of operation.

All along, GM is thought to have preferred RHJ, which made a simpler bid. In addition, GM officials have expressed concern over the flow of intellectual property and product development responsibilities to Russia, which is apparently on the other side of the earth from Detroit.

GM will still be involved in product development under the Magna/Sberbank deal, though, as the Opel Insignia (Vauxhall version pictured) and Astra will continue to provide the basis for GM cars sold in the U.S. 

Reuters

Financial Times (sub.req)

Categories: Auto Industry,General Motors,Manufacturers,Opel

Would Americans start digging wagons again if they looked like this German Opel?

Categories: Opel,Wagons

Last week it was Chrysler, this week Fiat is attempting to buy Opel, GM's German subsidiary. The goal is the formation of a European supergroup similar in scope to Volkswagen.

According to a report in the Financial Times, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne aims to split Fiat's car operations from the conglomerate's other  businesses and combine it with Opel, Saab and its newly acquired stake in Chrysler. "From an engineering and industrial point of view, this is a marriage made in heaven," Marchionne told the FT.

History shows that such mergers rarely end up creating much value, but Marchionne is hoping that the depressed state of the industry opens a few door in his drive to remake Fiat into a global powerhouse.

FT

Categories: Auto Industry,Chrysler,Fiat,Opel

There are plenty of interesting details buried within GM's latest rescue plan, but one in particular caught our eye. In the "product plan" section, it states:

Planned Chevrolet Volt and two additional models sharing Volt's extended range vehicle technology

Now we know that GM plans to roll out the Opel Ampera at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show next week, but the third vehicle is a little tougher to pin down.

Continue reading GM Planning Two Additional Extended-Range Plug-In Electric Vehicles Silmilar to Volt.

Categories: Cadillac,Chevrolet,Concept Vehicles,Coupes,Detroit Auto Show,Future Vehicles,General Motors,Green Tech,Hybrids,Opel,SUVs,Sedans

Set for a world debut at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show, the Opel Ampera will use the same Voltec powertrain as the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. GM released a teaser shot of the five-passenger sedan and it's pretty obvious that Opel tried its best to differentiate the European sedan from its U.S. counterpart.

Then again, given how large a role aerodynamics plays in a car like this, the Ampera probably won't deviate from the Volt all that much. GM's claims for its fuel efficiency are quite familiar, metrically speaking of course, about 60 kilometers on pure electric and "several hundred kilometers of non-stop electric driving."  

No word yet on whether or not GM sees any problem with the fact that there's an electric vehicle called the Aptera being built in the U.S. but we're pretty sure no one will confuse the two, except us maybe.

Categories: Chevrolet,Future Vehicles,General Motors,Geneva Motor Show,Green Tech,Opel,Sedans

This sort of fell between the cracks in our Geneva show coverage. It's an Opel GT with a V8 of unspecified origin by performance enhancer Irmscher, and is called the Irmscher GT i40.

Now we know there's a 6.0L GM V8, and I wonder if it could fit under the hood of the Pontiac Solstice? Mr...

Continue reading V8-powered Opel GT.

Categories: All Auto Shows,Geneva Motor Show,Opel,Pontiac,Sports Cars

Meet the Astra...soon to be docking at a Saturn dealership near you.

Inside Line drove the 2007 Opel Astra, which will be coming to the U.S. as the 2008 Saturn Astra. GM spent a lot of time perfecting the Astra's look and refining the interior with easy-to-operate quality equipment...

Continue reading First Drive: 2007 Opel Astra 1.8.

Categories: Opel,Saturn

GENEVA, Switzerland – On the eve of the first press day of the Geneva Motor Show, General Motors’ European subsidiary, Opel, unveiled its GTC concept car that strongly hints at the next-generation Vectra.

GM's European head of design, Bryan Nesbitt said the GTC speaks a new design language for Opel in the future.

The GTC (short for Gran Turismo Coupe) also is intended to inject some emotion and interest in the softening premium midsize car segment in Europe.

The GTC concept is very close to the production version due within a couple of years...

Continue reading 2007 Geneva Auto Show: Opel GTC concept.

Categories: All Auto Shows,Geneva Motor Show,Opel

GM announced yet another new Saturn today. The 2008 Saturn Astra will hit the market late next year in both three-door and five-door hatchback configurations. Recently unveiled at the Bologna auto show as the Opel Astra, Saturn's version will debut at the 2007 Chicago auto show virtually unchanged.

Categories: Chicago Auto Show,Future Vehicles,Hatchbacks,Opel,Saturn

I'm a HUGE fan of clever ideas that make sense. Here's one more:

This similar in concept to the upcoming '08 Ford Super Duty's pullout tailgate step. It's from Opel and it's a pullout bike rack (called FlexFix) for the rear of the car. It's being offered on the Opel Corsa 5-door and Antera crossover...

Continue reading Opel's pull-out bike rack.

Categories: Opel,Trends

Want to know what the 2008 Saturn Vue is going to look like? Then take a look at the Opel Antara. Saturn is beginning to adopt designs pulled directly from Opel's studios and this Antara will be one of them. It was introduced for the first time this morning and although it doesn't look quite as striking as the Antara GTC concept shown last year it's not bad for an SUV.

GM kept the shtick level low with nothing more than a short intro video and some words by Euro design chief Bryan Nesbitt of PT Cruiser fame. The most riveting aspect of the press conference came when Nesbitt lost place among his huge handful of index cards and stood in silence with little to say. He was no doubt hugely embarrassed, but we couldn't help but think he would have done much better if GM simply told him to go up and talk about the design of the Antara. Instead, they hand him a full deck of cards chock full of corporate jargon and tell him to make it sizzle. Kind of makes you wonder if that's how the cars get designed at GM too.

Continue reading Paris auto show: Opel Antara.

Categories: Opel,Paris Auto Show,SUVs,Saturn