Recent media reports in Germany may have muddied the waters a tad, but General Motors’ European reorganisation is a constituent part of GM’s broader international reorganisation this year.

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Is General Motors Europe moving its HQ from Zurich to Russelsheim to reflect the greater role for Opel in terms of New GM’s European operations? Assumptions underlying that question aren’t quite right. GM Europe is effectively being disbanded under a new leaner structure reflecting the brands that GM has left.


While former GM Europe head Carl-Peter Forster sat in an office in Zurich overseeing all of GM’s European operations (which formerly included Saab), major brand Adam Opel’s operations were always based at its biggest plant at Russelsheim in Germany.


A GM Europe spokeswoman told just-auto today that GM is moving to a much leaner structure internationally, with its main headquarters in Detroit, a high-level coordinating office based in Shanghai and a more brand-based structure generally that also gives greater responsibility to national sales units.


The GM Europe Zurich office will therefore no longer have an overseeing role for GM’s European operations as a whole. GM will have two European business units: Opel/Vauxhall and Chevrolet. Chevrolet Europe will continue to be coordinated from Zurich. Opel will continue to be based in Russelsheim.

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