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2009 Opel Tigra Illusion  (Source: Car and Driver)

2010 Opel Insignia  (Source: Jalopnik)

2011 Opel Ampera (a Chevy Volt derivative)  (Source: GM-Volt)
Drama over German subsidiary continues

Over the last month and a half GM has offloaded its laggard brands in an effort to revitalize itself as a leaner company.  Among the brands it has moved to try to shed are Germany's Opel GmbH and Britain's Vauxhall Motors -- collectively known as GM Europe (along with Sweden's Saab, recently acquired in a separate deal by Sweden's Koenigsegg).

Near the end of May it was reported that GM had accepted an offer from Canada's Magna International to purchase the brands.  Reportedly Magna and its partners Sberbank, a state-controlled Russian bank, and GAZ, a Russian automaker, would invest $977M USD in the companies.  In return Magna would receive a 20 percent stake, Sberbank would receive 35 percent, GM would retain 35 percent, and Opel's employees would assume 10 percent ownership in their company.

However, June came and went and with it GM's refutation of there being any definite deal with Magna.  In June another bidder emerged -- RHJ International, a holdings company which partially owns Columbia Music Entertainment, among other high-profile holdings. 

Now the competition has heated up further with Beijing Automotive Industry Holding (BAIC), a Chinese automotive giant, finally offering a concrete bid.  The company had been considered somewhat of a dark horse candidate to buy GM Europe, with most writing it off for lack of a solid offer.  Now GM officials have confirmed that a major offer from the company is on the table.

Beijing Auto is reportedly offering €660M ($924M USD) for a 51 percent stake in GM Europe.  GM would retain a 49 percent minority interest.  The deal is an attractive one for GM as it would offer it nearly as much money as the Magna offer, while allowing it to retain a larger stake.  A deal with the Chinese firm would also mean that GM would have to share less technology, as opposed to the deal with Magna, which was partly contingent on a tech transfer to Russia's GAZ. 

However, a major downside of the Chinese hookup would be more job cuts.  Magna had promised virtually no job cuts.  The BAIC offer promised no German plants would close, but plans for cuts at Opel's corporate offices, including at its headquarters.

Whichever company or companies win Opel and Vauxhall, Germany is expected to offer €1.5B ($2.1B USD) in loans to aid their recovery.  If BAIC wins the bidding war and succeeds in acquiring GM Europe, it will be the second sale of GM assets to Chinese bidders.  Near the start of June GM finalized a sale of its Hummer brand to a mystery bidder, which was later revealed to be China's Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company Ltd.

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Meh
By AndMatt on 7/5/2009 8:51:02 PM , Rating: 3
This is the way of the world. Capitalism is a funny game that China seems to be getting better and better at. The U.S government will never let this sale happen with China as the buyer. Unfortunately we love to preach capitalism and practice protectionism. I for one welcome our new Chinese overlords! God knows they would pay and respect me more for the college education I've received than any American company.




RE: Meh
By dark matter on 7/5/09, Rating: -1
RE: Meh
By WoWCow on 7/5/2009 10:14:51 PM , Rating: 5
Yeah, its almost bringing a tear to my eye, the irony of it... well...

http://failblog.org/2009/02/06/freedom-fail/

Enjoy!


RE: Meh
By InternetGeek on 7/6/2009 1:25:32 AM , Rating: 5
Not sure if they would appreciate you more though. The way things are they would rather hire a chinese professional. They are producing more and more of those year after year. Same as India, I think they would be hesitant to hire foreign workers knowing they will have to pay more for said professionals. Exceptions could be professionals who worked in high-profile projects that are likely to bring a wealth of know-how about a specific market.

Here's an interesting question (IMO at least). Would quality of the products of these companies be affected by such a sale?


RE: Meh
By Regs on 7/6/2009 10:05:05 AM , Rating: 2
Quality and quantity. We produce more per person, and pay high costs to keep workers motivated, healthy, and well equipped. We priced ourselves out of the market however when cost of living rose above a sustainable equilibrium. Car manufactures are not going to pay workers to live in expensive houses, who pay high taxes, or pay for a 100k education.


RE: Meh
By codeThug on 7/6/09, Rating: -1
RE: Meh
By andrinoaa on 7/6/2009 3:24:25 AM , Rating: 1
yea right, you guys bludgeoned the world with US style capitalism now the Chinese are going to give us a taste of Chinese style capitalism. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire, lordi lord


RE: Meh
By Hieyeck on 7/6/09, Rating: -1
RE: Meh
By Hieyeck on 7/6/2009 10:46:54 AM , Rating: 1
Wow the union labor woke up and logged onto DT in droves this morning. A little too much time on your hands?

Don't hate that a communist nation is getting better at capitalism than the US. It's your fault for encouraging all the protectionism with "worker rights". The best example I can give: the definitions for "Communist Labor" and "Union Labor" are nearly interchangable - just insert or remove Soviet a few times.


RE: Meh
By dark matter on 7/6/2009 8:02:09 PM , Rating: 2
I wouldn't say China is better at Capitalism. It is a communist country after all.

No, the problem with America is all the red tape. That and the fact you are totally unable to innovate any more without another company suing for breach of IP.

It's all very well registering patents left right and centre, but unless you actually make something from them you have acheived nothing. And suing another company for going ahead and making something is damaging your economy.

China has no such issues. All property belongs to the state (in a roundabout way). When China starts to innovate, then you will be totally screwed.


RE: Meh
By Regs on 7/7/2009 9:18:46 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
When China starts to innovate


That is the glory of capitalism. Innovation is rewarded therefore more incentive to innovate. When everything is government controlled, money is used for the "better good" of the nation and not for interests of progression. To progress and innovate there is a degree of risk and no one will take that risk if there is no competition.

What our problem today is finding the balance between free market and regulation. We've always had a mixed economy because both systems have failed without the codependence of the other. Though microeconomics changes with population, culture, globalization, and so on that shifts the equilibrium where we have to find the correct adjustment as out country ages.


RE: Meh
By MrPoletski on 7/6/2009 5:33:20 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
The U.S government will never let this sale happen with China as the buyer.


Much like with the port sales, not a free market at all.

I doubt they would stop THIS sale though.


RE: Meh
By CyberHawk on 7/6/2009 5:33:29 AM , Rating: 4
quote:
The U.S government will never let this sale happen with China as the buyer.


When China is owner of many BIG companies in US. Now, how this goes together with your claims?
Your argument don't hold water.

quote:
God knows they would pay and respect me more for the college education I've received than any American company.

I don't know under what rock have you been sleeping for last 15 years, but is is well known, that students in China have beds in the laboratories. They work like mad, sleep for 4-5 hours there and then return to work/study.
Why do you think that your US education is of any interest for them (when it is faaaar more easier)? They don't care for individual, who produces/works better is the man for the job, period.


RE: Meh
By ayat101 on 7/6/2009 5:37:24 AM , Rating: 3
I for one welcome our new Chinese overlords!

Yep. I suggest everyone gets used to it. A country's greatness is achieved by smarts and hard work... not whining on message boards about how one's country's greatness is slipping away. History is littered with the corposes of once great empires. What does it matter if one more is added to the graveyard? Nothing at all.

There are good points to this world power transformation:

1. The beautiful Chinese girls :)

2. The many kinds of varied Chinese food.

3. The plethora of martial arts styles that will be popularised with the worlwide spread of Chinese culture.

4. A work hard ethic being established by the Chinese around the world... keep up or sink and die. No more supposed God given right to live in riches some countries imagine to have.

The US will do well if worldwide it retains a status similar to what the UK has now. The only question that remains is what, if any, competition emerges to the Chinese. Will it be India? Will EU gets its act together? Or will Chinese rule be unchallenged?


RE: Meh
By ayat101 on 7/6/2009 5:56:34 AM , Rating: 2
AhA! I guess the truth hurts. My post is already being downrated.

I want to add one more thing.

There is nothing to fear from a Chinese world dominance. China will not remain a totalitarian state forever. Sooner or later China will become some sort of democracy, and the process will be speeded up if China assumes a leading role in the world. There is nothing in Chinese culture that is against democracy as shown by the successful Chinese speaking democracies.


RE: Meh
By RandomUsername3463 on 7/6/09, Rating: 0
RE: Meh
By Samus on 7/6/2009 6:20:58 AM , Rating: 1
1. The beautiful Chinese girls :)

You know with the birthrates what they have been at the past few decades, there wont be very many Chinese GIRLS available to you.

However, there are plenty of Chinese MEN that would love to meet you! With the female population so low in China, they would also be very interested in spending some time with you, out to dinner and the movies and the back sea.....


RE: Meh
By ayat101 on 7/6/2009 6:49:21 AM , Rating: 2
I'm not worried about my chances :)


RE: Meh
By bobny1 on 7/6/2009 7:35:43 AM , Rating: 1
Did they mentioned "Chinese government controlled bank"?. Sounds like a true democracy to me!!!.


RE: Meh
By 91TTZ on 7/6/2009 11:08:43 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
I for one welcome our new Chinese overlords! God knows they would pay and respect me more for the college education I've received than any American company.


LOL, yeah right.

With your new Chinese overlords you're going to work for $5 an hour. Oh, and you don't have a choice. Remember, you got that college education to help China, not to help yourself.


RE: Meh
By zsunjian on 7/6/2009 12:24:22 PM , Rating: 2
Oh not necessarily. I know a good number of people with a college degree working in China. They're paid quite well, actually. It's mostly the unskilled and uneducated that are having a hard time there.


RE: Meh
By 91TTZ on 7/6/2009 3:59:29 PM , Rating: 2
And what do these people do that can't be done cheaper by native Chinese?


RE: Meh
By dark matter on 7/6/2009 8:09:31 PM , Rating: 2
They help China aquire knowledge. It wasn't so long ago that the majority of China was just farmland.

It has the trump card when it comes to the size of its workforce. It has semi-skilled a substantial part of its workforce. Not bad for a bunch of farmers, eh?

Now it is embarking on ensuring a good number of its workforce are highly skilled.

This, my friend, is where we in the west come in.

In another 10 years, China will be in the driving seat. It doesn't have to worry about what its people think. China is like one massive ant colony. Each ant peforming their allocated duties.

Whilst we in the west constantly compare ourselves to our neighbours and either look up to them or look down on them. We spend more of our time worrying about our position in the heirarchy then getting on with the task at hand... (IE, doing what you think will impress your boss so you get a promotion, not doing what is actually the right thing).

Specialisation and freedom of choice are hard bed friends, if not impossible lovers.


RE: Meh
By sprockkets on 7/6/2009 5:24:42 PM , Rating: 2
Try $40 a month.


RE: Meh
By dark matter on 7/6/2009 8:12:40 PM , Rating: 2
You have to take into consideration the cost of living.

If your monthly rent and grocery bills, including utilities charges only come to $20 a month, then you are doing ok. As 50% of your income is disposable.

How much of your income is disposable? This is the true measure of wealth, not how much you earn.


How much?
By Diesel Donkey on 7/5/2009 9:31:52 PM , Rating: 5
quote:
Germany is expected to offer €1.5B USD in loans to aid their recovery

How much is 1.5 billion United States Euro Dollars? :)




RE: How much?
By MrPoletski on 7/6/2009 5:35:22 AM , Rating: 2
THE AMERO IS HERE!!!

run for the hills! ;)


By ayat101 on 7/6/2009 12:24:52 PM , Rating: 3
Yes, Europe has a LONG history... and is full of FAILED empires... just about every tiny state in there had one at one time or another.


By dark matter on 7/6/2009 7:57:40 PM , Rating: 3
Don't worry, this guy has never heard of Ottoman, or Khan.

Anyway, all empires fail. They all end up consuming themselves in the end. They are like the economy, they (empires) work great when they are expanding. As soon as the expansion stops it's financially impossible to maintain as it collapses in on itself.

It'll happen to America as well. I just thought it was fun to wind them (Americans) up about it. It worked too. Trust me, when you are born into a country that once had a massive empire, you learn to develop a sense of humour about it.

Bush was your Nero, and Obamba knows this, hence the reason his olive branch.. ;)


Laggard Brand?
By Griswold on 7/6/2009 4:13:07 AM , Rating: 4
Opel isnt exactly a laggard brand at the moment (also thanks to the wreckage bonus paid by the german government if you get rid of your 9+ year old car and buy a new one - Opel cars are very popular right now).

Their biggest problem is GM and the black hole that GM is thanks to cash pooling. Which means, all the money Opel generates flows directly to GM and Opel currently barely gets what it needs to survive, thus time is of the essence in Opels rescue (yes, getting away from GM is considered a rescue effort in germany).

I imagine its a similar story for vauxhall. But tossing Opel into the same basket as Saab or Hummer is a mistake and doesnt do the brand justice.




By CrazyBernie on 7/5/2009 9:39:11 PM , Rating: 3
Maybe someone will come out with a body kit for the Volt.




The Insignia
By V3ctorPT on 7/6/2009 3:26:59 AM , Rating: 3
The Insignia is already on sale, it's not for 2010... IMHO, great car, just saw it the other day at the car dealership. Just beautiful, and one of the cheapest of their segment. I own an Opel, and I don't care if China or Mars buys the company, I just want to have parts and support for times to come




By jconan on 7/6/2009 4:42:06 AM , Rating: 2
they're probably looking for expertise and credibility in design and engineering similar to lotus designs in malaysia to jumpstart ahead of their own competition. otherwise they wouldn't be putting a bid in for it. and likewise they'll probably be scrutinized for it if they don't have a plan since no one in germany wants a repeat of the siemens\benq fiasco...




By SpaceJumper on 7/6/2009 12:47:47 PM , Rating: 2
Vehicles are suddenly look a lot better without the Chevrolet logo. It is just amazing that a simple logo change can change the GM around. They look more like Japanese or European vehicles now.




And so it begins.
By dark matter on 7/5/09, Rating: -1
RE: And so it begins.
By matt0401 on 7/5/2009 9:33:22 PM , Rating: 5
Cry us a river. If you think it was right for your now defunct monarch to own the entire world then you need to shift your thinking a little towards the world today.


RE: And so it begins.
By dark matter on 7/5/09, Rating: -1
RE: And so it begins.
By matt0401 on 7/5/2009 11:28:45 PM , Rating: 2
Apparently someone hasn't heard of a hyperbole?


RE: And so it begins.
By ayat101 on 7/6/2009 6:08:08 AM , Rating: 1
Q: "Why doesn't the Sun ever set in the English Empire?"

A: "Because God does not trust the English after dark!"

I got it from "Sliders", but a good one.


RE: And so it begins.
By ayat101 on 7/6/2009 6:14:25 AM , Rating: 2
I think English Empire is a swear word on these boards... because my post got automatically downrated...


RE: And so it begins.
By GaryJohnson on 7/6/2009 9:26:49 AM , Rating: 2
It was because you quoted "Sliders" :P


RE: And so it begins.
By Motoman on 7/6/2009 10:35:15 AM , Rating: 3
That could have been it, but what actually happens is if you reply to a post that's -1, you start off at 1, not 2. They don't want you feeding the trolls.


RE: And so it begins.
By CrazyBernie on 7/5/2009 9:38:12 PM , Rating: 3
Awful long time to hold a grudge, buddy.


RE: And so it begins.
By dark matter on 7/5/2009 11:27:24 PM , Rating: 2
Ah yes, the mighty American assuming people hold a grudge. What you going to do, sue the world with an army of lawyers?What exactly you planning to pay them with?

You're country has bankrupt itself to a "commie" country. Don't you find it a little bit strange how your government prevents you from being a communist and yet you merrily sold your economy to one.

Round of applause. Let's see how long you hold a grudge, Mr Stars and Stripes.


RE: And so it begins.
By matt0401 on 7/5/2009 11:29:47 PM , Rating: 3
lol this is satire right?


RE: And so it begins.
By sprockkets on 7/6/2009 1:47:36 AM , Rating: 2
I wish it were.

We hate Communism, but can't live without Communist China. I'm sure this is also vice versa.


RE: And so it begins.
By dhalilahma on 7/6/2009 4:19:41 AM , Rating: 2
Meeeeeerrriicuhhhhhh!!!!


RE: And so it begins.
By TSS on 7/6/2009 7:21:14 AM , Rating: 2
well technically he's right. you are currently selling your souls to the chinese, which still don't give a damn about human rights (but everybody seems to have forgotten after the olympics).

on the other hand, since he's british, he has no place to speak. afterall, as far as the mainland is concerned, brittain (speaking currently and not 100 years ago) might even be worse off then the USA.


RE: And so it begins.
By dark matter on 7/6/2009 8:47:54 AM , Rating: 2
Oh, I completely agree. The UK is fucked as well. Our government has sold us out too. Brown is the biggest laughing stock going.

The UK government have been feeding the population cheap chinese goods, whilst the British banks revelled in the escalating overpriced houses. Our country is bankrupt.

They claim we live in democracy because we get the chance to vote. But in reality this is a fleece, as both our main parties (similar to your two main parties) say different things in opposition and then basically follow the same path once in office.

Our governments don't represent us, they represent big business. And it is big business that have sold us out to the Chinese.

Its about now you can start lowering the American flag to half mast. We salute you here in the UK. We have been through what you are going through. If you fail to understand what I mean by this, then you deserve everything that is coming to you.


RE: And so it begins.
By Spuke on 7/6/2009 3:24:22 PM , Rating: 2
Foriegn US Debt (roughly 25% of overall debt):
http://www.treas.gov/tic/mfh.txt

Most the foreign debt is split between China and Japan (24% and 20% respectively). US citizens actually own most of our debt but I can't find the website that posted the percentage of the remaining debt that we own. It was a government site if anyone is willing to look.


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