GM's Opel Sale Largely Complete, to Be Announced Next Week: Report

Peugeot Citroën’s planned purchase of Opel and its operations from General Motors is believed to be largely a done deal, with only minor details remaining.According to Bild, the details will be announced on the first of March. It’s thought that both GM and PSA want to sign the papers before the Geneva International Autosalon, where Opel will introduce the new Insignia sedan and PSA plans to show the new DS7 mid-size crossover. The deal does not include Australia’s once-glorious-but-now-gutted Holden brand. FAZ alleges a purchase price has been agreed upon, but licencing fees remain unsettled in light of PSA’s particular interest in the Opel Mokka and Ampera-e (the Euro Chevrolet Bolt). Similar complications arise when looking at the production offset required in Rüsselsheim for the Insignia-based Buick Regal and Holden Commodore. This renders the purchase price a mere symbol of the transaction, with the deal’s real value buried in the minutiae.Despite the ongoing negotiations, it’s believed both sides are deeply invested in the success of this transaction, with neither party particularly interested in walking away at this point. GM has already put a $2 billion price tag on its European operations, while PSA CEO Carlos Tavares has worked to gain the trust of both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the labor union.“Tavares communicated convincingly in the talks that he is interested in a sustainable development for Opel-Vauxhall as an independent company,” Opel works council Chairman Wolfgang Schaefer-Klug said in a joint PSA-Opel release. “We are ready to explore further the chances of a potential coming together.”PSA has promised to honor an employment guarantee until the end of 2018 for half of Opel’s 38,000 European workers, but it’s unclear what will happen to the other half. That question may be irrelevant if the new Franco-German axis of automobiles goes on a rampant run of profitability.[Image: Opel]