Opel Is A Wallflower
Yesterday, we mentioned that GM Europe Chief, Carl-Peter Forster, must have missed his daily dose of Prozac. He had sounded a bit depressed when he said that there were “interested parties but no formal talks” in regards to a partial sale of Opel. Today it turns out that this was the understatement of the week. Opel is the wallflower of the industry. One by one, those alleged “interested parties” hold their nose and say a muffled “no thanks.” The German Autohaus chronicles the list of rebuffs:
BMW and Daimler had said quite a while ago that they are not interested. There was some talk about Opel selling their Eisenach plant to Daimler. But last week, Daimler’s Zetsche spiked the rumor. In the last few days, Opel received a “no” from France’s PSA Peugeot Citroën, India’s Tata and Chinese automakers Geely and Chery.
Tata spokesperson Debasis Ray said to Die Welt: “We have all the production capacities we need.” A PSA speaker said: “Opel is not on our agenda.” BMW reiterated their disinterest: “We need no additional capacities in Europe.”
As mentioned on TTAC, approximately half of the current worldwide automotive production capacities lie fallow. Nobody needs a wallflower. Instead of a wedding, there will be a thorough weeding.
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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Frankly, Opel will limp right along. Nobody is buying it. And GM doesn't really want to leave Europe. So as capt. Rick might say, "steady as she sinks!". Really, they can't compete w/ Fiat, Renault, Peugeot, Ford, assorted Asians in the small car market. Midsize has been taken from them by the likes of VW, Ford, Renault and assorted Japanese. Full-size has been killed by down-market Mercedes and BMWs. What's left for them? Red ink a plenty.
If only Opel could make up for its pudgyness with a skimpy dress and high heels.
Why pay for Opel now when in a few weeks anyone will be able to get it for a few pennies, sorry €urocents. Their share in Europe is falling because the few customers out there ain't stupoid.... when Mandelson (UK Business Minister) talks about "Vauxhall is in crisis", people hear and remember.