German Chancellor Angela Merkel on a visit to Opel in Rüsselsheim.
General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM) and Groupe PSA (Paris:UG) yesterday announced the close of the sale of GM’s Opel/Vauxhall business to the Groupe PSA. GM claims with some justification that the sale represents a win for all stakeholders – really stockholders potentially – and is the latest, most significant in a series of actions GM has taken to strengthen its global enterprise and position itself for the future, while immediately improving the company’s financial performance. (General Motors Sells Opel/Vauxhall to PSA Group for €2.2B)
This ends almost 100 years of GM in Europe, leaving only the slow expansion of the Cadillac brand, and the sale – it’s more like a hobby than a business – of niche vehicles, the Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette, both imports, as GM’s only presence in the world’s third largest vehicle market. GM’s Lyft and Maven will eventually appear in Europe, AutoInformed opines.
It makes PSA Group Number 2 in European sales at 3 million behind Volkswagen Group at 4 million. With the addition of Opel/Vauxhall, which generated revenue of €17.7 billion in 2016, PSA in Europe will have a 17% market share.
“We’ve taken another bold step in our ongoing work to transform GM,” said GM President Dan Ammann. “This transaction allows us to sharply focus our resources on higher-return opportunities as we expand our technical and business leadership in the future of mobility.”
The sale of GM Financial’s European operations to Groupe PSA and BNP Paribas is expected to close later this year, subject to various regulatory approvals.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
