GM CEO Fritz Henderson and Nick Reilly, who temporarily leads Opel/Vauxhall, have met with Opel/Vauxhall’s dealer body, Euroda.
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“It has been a constructive meeting and Euroda is looking forward to cooperate in a positive way,” says Jaap Timmer, Chairman of Euroda.
According to a note issued by Euroda, Henderson said it had ‘absolutely not been GM’s intention to create a big stir by announcing that GM would retain Opel/Vauxhall’.
Henderson went on to express his sincere apologies for the situation that was caused by the unexpected announcement.
Henderson also said in the meeting that that ‘nobody was considering an insolvency for Opel/Vauxhall: not necessary and highly unlikely’.
Henderson and Reilly said that while Opel/Vauxhall will remain a fully integrated member of the New GM organisation, its operations in Europe will continue with more flexibility than in the past.
Henderson emphasised that GM is not exploring any other alternatives for Opel/Vauxhall.
Henderson also explained the need of restructuring the European Opel/Vauxhall organisation, in order to be able to run the business successfully in the long term.
“We obviously had a situation in Europe where the market has fallen significantly,” Henderson recently stated in an interview with American media. “It’s important to not walk away from it. The business does need to be addressed and restructured. It has to be. Anybody’s plan, whether it’s ours, Magna, whoever’s, was going to do that. And so, I think it is certainly important that that stays foremost on our list of things to do because I don’t think anybody wants to be involved in this, whether it’s GM, whether it’s the German government, in any sort of initiative that would leave the business unaddressed. We have to address the business requirements. Therefore we will present a strategic operating plan that is viable for the longer term. And we feel confident that this plan will be financeable without any doubt.”
A transition team has been put together and GM will shortly start to look for a new head for its Opel/Vauxhall operations, ‘most likely a European or even German manager’, according to Euroda.
“Euroda is very pleased with the outcome of yesterday’s meeting with Henderson and Reilly,” said Timmer.
