Opel Officially Not For Sale, Honestly Now
Better late than never: After refusing for months to comment on rumors that Opel might be up for sale, and after having been lambasted from his own workers up to Germany’s government, GM CEO Dan Akerson said the magic words: “We don’t comment on speculation — and there has been a lot of speculation — but I will say this: Opel is not for sale.”
Akerson made the remarks at a GM plant while celebrating the official launch of labor talks with the UAW, Reuters reports.
The rumors had started early June when both Der Spiegel and Auto Bild, two papers at opposite ends of the colorful journalistic spectrum of Germany, had written that GM and especially Akerson could throw in the towel on Opel and will put the loss making European division up for sale. Workers and dealers wanted a clear denial from Akerson.
Nearly two months later, they have it.
Meanwhile in Germany, the restructuring of Opel’s Bochum plant is nearly done. There are 155 holdouts that refused to accept golden parachutes of up to $360,000 a head. They have until August 15 to accept. If they won’t, they will get fired, says BILD Zeitung.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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'...restructuring of Opel’s Bochum plant is nearly done. There are 155 holdouts that refused to accept golden parachutes of up to $360,000 a head. They have until August 15 to accept. If they won’t, they will get fired, says BILD Zeitung.' Really? They have UAW syndrome over there too, huh? I wonder if they'll just half-merge it with Buick again, it would make sense for the Chinese market(?)
Wow. SAAB--whoops---I mean Opel is not for sale?! Now that's their first mistake. Old GM is alive and well. Opel, the company who is losing billions, but gave us great hits as _________, as _________, well, um... (crickets)
This shows again how confusing GM management is. They just can't make a decision and stick with it. Still I wondered where Buick was going with that "German Engineered" design they have been touting, especially with the new Regal. Oh well maybe now they can concentrate on the cars.
Opel should just switch business and start making mugs and soccer apparel or something.