GM regained the title of the world’s number one automotive group in 2011, but its European division losses must have surely dampened the celebrations.
In fact, the Wall Street Journal reported this week that General Motors is losing its patience with Opel and Vauxhall after their fourth quarter losses and wants to make deeper cuts – and fast. The newspaper cited an unnamed GM source as saying that “if Opel is going to get fixed, it is going to get fixed now and cuts are going to get deep.”
Opel and Vauxhall, however, dismissed the report, which said that General Motors is already talking to the unions about closing two of its European factories, as “speculation”. They also insisted that GM remains committed to turning its European operations around.
The automaker’s response to the WSJ article read: “The management of the Opel management works council and supervisory board is all in agreement that it has to become profitable even in tough economic times. We’re discussing strategy and will keep employees and the public informed. We’re on a good path with an excellent product range and six new launches in 2012.”
We can’t help but point out that the statement was very carefully phrased, neither revealing nor excluding anything.
Moreover, British publication Autocar says that Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant, one of the two mentioned by WSJ as the most likely to be axed, has seen orders for the left-hand drive Opel Astra which it assembles being reduced due to low demand.
