Opel To Get Ostrich As CEO
GM’s troubled European daughter Opel finally will get a more permanent CEO. As rumored since last year, it is the former Volkswagen manager Karl-Thomas Neumann. German Automobilwoche [sub] expects Neumann to be confirmed by Opel’s supervisory board on January 31.
Neumann is expected to take over on March 1 from interim-chief Thomas Sedran, who had replaced short-term-interim-chief Stephen Girsky. Even non-interim chiefs of Opel have a very short shelf life. Historically, an Opel CEO does not last longer than three years on average.
Opel wanted to hand the reigns to Neumann earlier, but there were contractual ties with Volkswagen. Volkswagen now generously allows Neumann to go three months earlier than the end of his contract.
Neumann’s last job at VW was head of its Chinese operations. Last summer, Neumann was toppled in China. It had been leaked that the reason was problems with Volkswagen’s dual clutch transmission, which Neumann allegedly had ignored. My informants in Beijing had a different story: Neumann was too timid with his sales forecasts for China, they said. He only budgeted 3 million units until 2018. New China chief Jochem Heizmann immediately budgeted for a Strategie 2018 compliant 4 million.
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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He looks more like Beaker, but I can see a little Ostrich.
He does not look overly upset about it. Among other things, may wish to live in Europe again.
Girsky is there to close factories and eliminate jobs on the Continent. he did it in NA. each day the obits list another few folks who no longer get bennies. the closures are still happening (see Grand Blanc). what we read is only what they want us to know and think. NEVER trust a bankster, particularly one with the ties this imposter possesses. who heads Opel matters not, it's only a figurative position as the international elitists are going to do as they wish regardless, and that is close as much production out of Western Europe as possible. Danny Boy and his behind the scene kingmakers have their own plans 'ya know. they don't want to sell more cars like Wagoner didn't. they couldn't shutter plants that way. same game, different country. only diff is those Saxony boys are a bit tougher than the feeble and weak minded followers of Solidarity House.
He has an impossible task. People are not buying Opels. They have always been cheap to buy and cheaply made, but now they are not cheap to buy. They don´t have a brand cachet, so why buy an Opel?