Fiat’s bid for worldwide domination of the automotive industry has seen a bit of a snag in Germany, where government officials are said to be balking at the Italian automaker’s plan to take over GM’s struggling Opel brand. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne sounds confident that his plan is the best way forward for Opel, saying:
“I’m [...]
Further bolstering rumors that the Buick brand is set to receive rebranded products from GM’s European Opel division are reports from GM Inside News indicating that a small car based on the Astra platform - initially planned for the now-defunct Saturn brand - has been transferred to Buick’s entry-level luxury division.
Assuming these rumors are true, [...]
General Motors is looking for outside investment into German automaker Opel, and new reports coming out of Europe indicate that two main bidders have separated from the rest of the pack: Fiat, which we’ve already heard about, and Magna International. Oleg Deripaska, a familiar name to those who follow the auto industry closely, is said [...]
According to The Detroit News, Guenter Verheugen, the European Union’s Industry Commissioner, lashed out at Fiat on Friday in a radio interview, voicing concerns that the Italian automaker is acting irresponsibly to be considering new mergers and acquisitions when the company is already in debt. The public tongue-lashing from the EU official sent Fiat CEO [...]
Despite Fiat SpA chairman Luca de Montezemolo (above) denying that his company is interested in purchasing General Motors’ Opel brand, a new report by The Wall Street Journal indicates that many investors and analysts apparently find the alleged tie-up to be “far more compelling” than Fiat’s proposed alliance with Chrysler. If such a deal were [...]
General Motors wants out of Opel, and according to new reports, it is willing to let the German automaker go without receiving any money for it. The only requirement is that the buyer must inject €500 million (around $652M USD) into Opel for operations. While GM CEO Fritz Henderson has said there are six serious [...]
If Opel makes it out of the General Motors era alive, its dealers want a bigger say in its recovery as an independent automaker. And by a bigger say, they mean taking a 20% stake in the company - and along with it, a new CEO. One of the candidates being touted as a potential [...]
While several General Motors divisions and assets could face the axe if the troubled auto giant were to declare bankruptcy (or even if they don’t), Opel would not necessarily be one of them, according to emerging financial reports from Europe. The German division has access to its own funds, which could remain in place and [...]