Comments on: “Wise Man” Says Opel Should Be Nationalized‏

By: Hippo

Hippo — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:45:48 +0000

Sure, I vote yes, the Germans take Opel in lieu of payment and the Chinese get stuck with Vauxhall.

After all if market cap for all of GM is 1.6b, and they owe Opel 1b, even they come out way ahead in the deal.

By: dolo54

dolo54 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:25:05 +0000

off topic, but there’s a great movie that nobody saw.

By: Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:17:25 +0000

Well, maybe finally some good will come out of this: A bidding war between the Germans and the Chinese. However, in automotive matters, the Germans have always been tight with the Chinese.

The timing of both stories appears to be too coincidental.

By: ra_pro

ra_pro — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:59:36 +0000

Out of curiosity for people living in Germany/Europe; would Germany ever allow/was able to swallow if the Chinese wanted to buy Opel?

I believe that British would allow Vauxhall sale without any issues but I can’t imagine Opel and Germany doing the same thing.

By: John Horner

John Horner — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:39:32 +0000

If I were in German government I would be moving full speed ahead with that plan. Team up with the UK and bring Vauxhall into the deal as well, but make sure the management is German. England has a rather spotty track record running car companies! In fact, the Australians would be wise to somehow get Holden under the new regime as well.

Germany never fell for the drop-your-pants-for-Asia “free trade” mantra which somehow gripped the US. German still makes stuff, and is a massive exporter.

By: TireGuy

TireGuy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:30:02 +0000

This seems to be the right way to approach the matter. There is no way that Germany should spend any money on Opel which would then go to GM. Any politician approving such a scheme (even if accidentally) would have to resign. Since the problems of Opel are not of own making, but come from GM, it is reasonable to protect the company from going under. GM would have to agree in exchange of the government guarantees to pledge the Opel GmbH shares. When GM then does not pay back the money it owes to Opel, the state can take Opel with it. Not easy to be separated, but doable. And Forster and Demant would be a good management team for the future.

By: tom

tom — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:17:17 +0000

In light of those recent news from China, they better hurry up, before Opel will be dismantled and moved to the far east.

By: Steven Lang

Steven Lang — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:12:24 +0000

I happen to agree with you. But there are cultural, legal and organization difficulties that would likely make the Opel nationalization a bit more difficult.

It’s not impossible. But the German way of doing things is unique unto itself and unless GM ’sold’ the Opel and Vauxhall divisions to the German government (the two are pretty much joined at the hip), I wouldn’t envision anything less than a long-term legal fight.

I’m still waiting for the Opel Panzer and the Opel Senator Rommel to come stateside. I’m sure that instead of a typical horn it would have a very loud German man ordering people around…

“Vatch vhere you’re going you shtupid Schweinhundt!!!”

“Vhat are you, Poland? Get out of ze vay!”

I could see the voice of John Cleese finding it’s way in there.

Of course the friendly ‘beep’ will simply be an orchestral version of Beethoven’s 9th, while Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries would be used as the alarm system.

Come to think of it, don’t most BMW’s already do the automotive equivalent of these things?

By: Rday

Rday — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:12:16 +0000

Anything would be preferable than giving money to that greedy Redink Wagoner and his accomplices. If nationalization would work, do it. GM is pretty much toast anyway. For once I can see where Germany may have the right idea on nationalizing/socializing a company. It seems to have worked well for VW. Maybe Opel would be the same. Whatever, anything would be better than leaving detroit in charge. And if GM owes Opel money, I would say this sounds like a done deal. I wish our government was more concerned about keeping americans working rather than exporting jobs to China.
Too bad for the US. Wagoner and his band of accomplices have just pissed away an incredible amount of US net worth over the years. We will never be the country we were 20 years ago. Sad, really sad.

By: Ingvar

Ingvar — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:11:26 +0000

It’s a wise move. You can’t reward incompetence with a no strings attached bailout. You broke it, and you want us to pay? Fine, but then, we bought it. It’s the only way to go.

And as for the Swedish bank rescue, an example I have mentioned on these pages before, the outcome of that 60 billion kronor (roughly 10 billion dollars) loan to the banks was that the then nationalized banks paid off their debts, with interest, in ten years time, and then the state floated the stock on the open market. A case study on how things like these should be handled.