General Motors chief Mary Barra was very clear last night (14 September) – there is no deal to be done with Fiat Chrysler. She told a press conference on the eve of the Frankfurt IAA show: “There is no future in discussions. This is not a new topic and we have studied (Fiat boss) Mr Marchionne’s proposals in detail and taken outside advice and decided that a deal is not the right thing for GM shareholders.
“Our current plans are right for shareholders, we have a strong core and we will continue to invest in the right technologies.”
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She added that that even if FCA was to make aggressive moves for GM it would lead to a number of legal and North American trust issues that were unlikely to succeed.
Of more concern to her now is the slow down in China where she said: “We have had a long ride with growth but now we are seeing a bit more volatility. But let’s put that in context, the market is 24m units and in the next 20 years is expected to grow to 35m and we are in a good position, with good partners to take advantage of that.
“North America right now is very strong and our three truck strategy has been good. We also have several new car programmes coming up. South America is very difficult and we have work to do to weather the downturn in that market but our sales are still strong. Markets like Brazil can fall very fast but they can also grow very quickly.
“In India we are committed to that market and we are going in with a very good business proposition and plan to introduce 10 products in the next few years with around US$1bn of investment.”
GM’s European chief Karl-Thomas Neumann added that operations in the region are expected to meet the target of breaking even by next year.
“Europe is growing slowly”, he said. “The slowdown in Russia has been the biggest reason for weak growth and we have reduced our investment there but for 10 quarters in a year we have exceeded our expectations and grown market share in Europe. Our brand and product campaigns are going very well.”
Neumann said the campaign to boost the Opel and Vauxhall brands was working well. He added: “We are getting the message across that they are not cheap or budget brands but that they are good value mainstream brands with a lot of content – and they are also a lot of fun.”
In product terms, there are no immediate plans to push upmarket in Europe. Neumann said that there is little point in challenging luxury German brands with a product above the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia.
He added: “In any case, the segment for larger cars is reducing but we do plan a flagship SUV but our main focus is on cars like the Astra and below where there is room for considerable growth with the right products.”
Barra added there are no immediate plans either to to try and re-introduce Cadillac to Europe – but did not rule it out entirely either. “Cadillac is an important brand for us and we have to be very disciplined with it. For now we will concentrate on the US and China but we have aspirations for a truly luxury global brand.”
