The summary execution of Opel chief Karl-Friedrich Stracke, and the mess this has created, is front page material in the German press today. The fingers point in the direction of Detroit. Detroit has no clear strategy and changes directions like soiled underwear. The fingers also point at an impulsive Dan Akerson who is out of his depth.
Opel’s stand-in boss Stephen Girsky demands changes from his workforce. “Our successful revitalization demands from all of us that we accept to do business differently than before, and that we do it quickly,” Girsky wrote in an email to staff, cited by Germany’s BILD Zeitung. How different, remains unsaid. Workers and unions expect a fight and gear up for one. Opel is running out of money. Bankruptcy rears its head. (Read More…)
The Opel mess claims another victim. “Opel’s Karl-Friedrich Stracke stepped down from his position as chief executive of the embattled carmaker to take on “special assignments”, where he will report to the Chairman and CEO of parent General Motors,” Reuters says. (Read More…)
Opel chief Karl-Friedrich Stracke was asked to tell his workers unambiguously whether the Opel plant in Bochum will be closed or remain open. Today, Stracke met with workers in Bochum. He told them that no decision has been made – yet. (Read More…)
A lot of the Opel news seen below emanated from an all hands meeting at Opel’s ancestral home in Rüsselsheim. Opel CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke explained the restructuring plan for Opel. According to German media reports, Stracke delivered more questions than answers. According to Reuters Germany, “the management of the lossmaking GM subsidiary did not contribute to a heightened confidence of employees.” The impression is that the management has no plan. (Read More…)
If you are anxious to hear what Opel is going to do to stop the bleeding of money (just in case you are holding GM stock,) then you need a lot of patience. GM Europe CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke thinks he might have a plan within two to three months. He might have a plan. Setting the plan in motion may take longer. (Read More…)
Without Opel, GM might not be the world’s largest automaker. But it would be a highly profitable automaker. Opel will cost GM approximately € 1 billion ($1.3 billion) in the coming year and will miss its restructuring plan. Reason for the shortfall: Opel will sell only 1.4 million cars next year, 100,000 less than budgeted. How do we know this? We don’t, but it is in an internal forecast of Opel. The document somehow came into the hands of the German magazine Capital.(Read More…)
Last year, GM’s German patient, Opel, hemorrhaged $1.6 billion. It could easily have been twice than that, if Nick Reilly had fired the more than 8,000 workers that are on Opel’s endangered species list. Letting people go can get very expensive in Europe if you are a going concern. The only factory that was closed was Antwerp, to the tune of $532 million. That came to a little bit over $200,000 per worker. Reilly didn’t want to rain on the IPO roadshow, and moved the mass firings to this year. GM’s thank you: Reilly was fired. (Read More…)
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