Opel begins its "divorce" from General Motors

The German manufacturer based in Rüsselsheim has launched a restructuring process to separate itself from its American parent company General Motors. It was the main demand of the protests held yesterday at the plants in Germany and in Figueruelas, in Spain, as workers saw this solution as the least bad of the possible ways to overcome the crisis.

Apparently, General Motors intends to offload between 25 and 50 percent of the shares it holds in Opel, which would leave it with a still high stake and allow the German firm to keep the technology it has borrowed from the group. However, the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung states that GM wants to retain 30% of the shares and the patents it had shared with Opel, which would leave it without the technology. In addition, Vauxhall would come under the ownership of Opel.

Carl-Peter Forster, head of GM Europe, stated yesterday that Opel would need 3.3 billion euros to complete the separation and remain viable in the future. This money is currently being negotiated with the governments of Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, where Opel has its production plants. The European dealers’ association Opel EURODA has also confirmed that they will provide whatever support is necessary to the manufacturer during the restructuring process.

Opel will present its viability plan next week to the four German Federal States (Länder) where its products are manufactured, and it will also discuss the manufacturer’s future with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. These are the first steps of a process that will mark a turning point in the history of Opel and that will seek to save the company from the crisis it is currently facing.

Source | Autoblog en Español