General Motors Europe has changed leadership and the leadership has changed strategy.
Former Morgan Stanley banker, Steve Girsky, is on the GM main board and is tasked with upping volume and profit. He has read all the right stuff: “Only premium cars make money,” he observes.
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His strong right arm is Duncan Aldred who has been running Vauxhall in the UK for some time and now has to carry a heavier load; he has just been made acting vice president of Vauxhall and Opel sales and marketing globally.
Aldred’s first concern is product. He is not going to get very far on Corsa and Astra and the ground-breaking hybrid-electric Ampera is not bringing in the crowds. The Agila is viewed internally as incapable of huge successes. What the salemen really want is a city car below the Adam to provide entry level for new, young customers and to take on Peugeot 107 and Ford Ka. It is going to be three years at least before it can be built. New Corsa will arrive first.
Vauxhall has become the squeezed middle with the German premiums brands taking share at the top and the Koreans becoming stronger and stronger at the bottom.
Girsky is unhappy with the cars that he does have in his portfolio as well as those that he does not have: “The young man of today does not give a fig for the car or its badge. What he wants is connectivity and audio and those kind of things. We must provide them or we will not be able to invest and survive.”
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By GlobalDataNew Corsa is three years old and it is that car which must be fully fitted with the new jewellery. Aldred, who is 43, also talks hopefully about a large car and reflects back on the success that the Opel Senator had in its day.
It’s not just Opel that is losing share in Europe. The great VW is doing the same and Peugeot Citroen, newly arrived as GM’s component sharing buddy, is having a tough time.
Vauxhall believes that its new product offensive will hurt Ford which no longer has the credibility of a factory in the UK, unlike Vauxhall. Girsky has been bold enough to forecast that he will push Ford out of UK market leadership within three years.
There is some potential for export to the US for the Adam range but the car has yet to be federalised and that would be two years away at best. Initial reaction seems to be good.
And what of Chevrolet? That brand has been doing well in the UK; there is quite a following for US-connected consumer goods in the UK.
“It’s well engineered and good quality and the Americans will like it. But the market will not want all of the Opel or Vauxhall ranges. The Cascada, the handsome and beautifully-made (at an attractive GBP24,000 base price) four-seater convertible which is being made in Poland and is shortly arriving in showrooms is a touch-stone for GME’s capabilities.
Next will be a major update for the Insignia which has been ploughing its own furrow and proving a great success. All it needs is membership of the premier brands club and then it can start earning the profit.
If only…
