General Motors (GM) has chosen the Canadian car parts manufacturer Magna to buy Opel and sister firm Vauxhall, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says. But full details of the terms of the sale have yet to be released.
Earlier, there had been rumours that GM could be planning to try to keep control of its European arm. Magna was the German government's preferred bidder. The decision must be approved by the Opel Trust, which is due to hold a press conference shortly. Magna has pledged to keep all German plants open.
"I am very pleased about the decision that's been made and it is along the lines that the federal government has been advocating," Chancellor Merkel said. "But it's also along the lines that the employers and the employees of Opel wanted."
BBC business correspondent Martin Shankleman said that this was the option that the GM board appeared to be resisting. The UK unions were also against it as they feared the UK could be at the forefront of any job losses, he said. UK unions favoured GM keeping control of Vauxhall - saying this would be the best news for British jobs.
Oh so what is a few thousand jobs are lost, why does everyone involved in the car industry feel they should have some immunity and protection against failiure... Woolworths accounted for approx 30,000 job losses alone, without considering suppliers and the likes of Zavvi etc, so a few thousand job losses at Vauxhall would be nothing - besides which, there is no hard evidence it will happen, as yet.
I personally hope there is some job losses in the UK as a result of this deal, show the car industry that they arnt invincible, and can't be private during times of profit and public during times of struggle.
Funnily enough, the MG-Rover report is due out this week, the governments reluctance to help them by supplying a £120 million bridging loan whilst the SAIC deal was being finalised accounted for over 6,500 direct, and an estimated 3,000 indirect job losses (I know there have been higher estimates but im not sure the true figure), and nobody batted an eyelid then!!
BBC News Report
Vauxhall used to employ 12,500 people just in the E/port plant alone.Luton closed all this in times of plenty and empty.I would not wish a job loss on my worst enemy,Wife kids etc come to mind. The Mg Rover plant is not viable Ellesmere Port is. The government said they will not back a dead duck R.I.P. MG Rover.The Vauxhall plant is a success not a failure The Banks are a failure, point your gun in the right direction "Please".
Thats funny, because SAIC/NAC are planning to build the MG6 (Roewe 550/W2) on the former 75 line (shares much of the tooling) in Longbridge and quite possibly the MG3/4 (Roewe N1).
They have allocated space for 2 further production lines in addition to the existing 75 line (unlikely the current 75-derived MG7 will ever be made/sold in the UK again).
The shit that people talk about when they say Longbridge has been flattened, is uneducated drivel, indeed, about 70% of the old plant has been sold off and flattened, but it was all unused and delapadated buildings which needed knocking down anyway. MGR missed a trick by not selling the land off before they went under imho!
The remaining Longrbidge plant is currently bigger than Cowley ever was, and is said to be able to handle 250k volume per annum with ease. If BMW are/were hoping to push out 400k at Cowley, it makes you realise how realistic that prospect is.
There are a few problems however - firstly, it is still being modernised, which does take time, and unfortunately will mean that far less people will be required than ever, to build future cars, as more of the work will be carried out by robots and computers etc. Also, SAIC/NAC are still finishing the new 2010 engine, to replace the K-Series, as it is unlikely the K-Series could ever pass future European emissions laws. On top of this, it appears that when they took over, Powertrain never continued the development of the G-Series commonrail diesel lump (L-Series replacement), so they need to source a diesel engine for the European market. And of course, the downturn in the entire industry does unfortunately mean they won't be jumping into it in a hurry, at least until car sales show significant improvement, theres little point in them trying to be honest.
A lot are saying the MG6 will start production in Q1 2010 at Longbridge, will sales following shortly after, and the TF2 will follow for the summer. Personally, im thinking 2011, but we shall see.
If they do manage to get volume back up, they will well and truely the Labour cronies wrong, given the fact they have had to battle against a 5 year disappearance!
If the Vauxhall plant was such a success, then their owners would not be hanging its future in the balance... our government, maybe, but not the owners - if its profitable, it has nothing to worry about. Why would a private company remove a profit generating income source?
Well the announcement states that both plants will remain open and producing vehicles... does not really promise that there will be no job losses though.
The govt has pumped billions into the car industry and still we have to lose thousands of jobs. The future of Ellesmere Port and Luton have been doubtful for years, who exactly is this money meant to help? I'd love to see the back of GM and Ford personally, the world will be a better place.
Vauxhall are a pin prick in GM"s portfolio it is GM who have the problem.Vauxhall E/Port is mean lean and makes money, but relies on Russelsheim for the design and tecnhnology, which makes it the heart of the company.Vauxhall ca"nt stand alone, you can"t buy a new car design off the shelf.We need the Germans they don"t need us.We could at least give our support to a local firm that puts a lot of money into the wirral economy.
The govt has pumped billions into the car industry and still we have to lose thousands of jobs. The future of Ellesmere Port and Luton have been doubtful for years, who exactly is this money meant to help? I'd love to see the back of GM and Ford personally, the world will be a better place.
It's helped the Koreans... it's done jack shit for the UK or the enviroment as the government has claimed! I too would love to see the back of Ford and Vauxhall.
Ship building Shipping fleets docks Fishing motorbikes It goes on and on, A nation with no industry is a nation on the slide .Maggie said "we will be a service industry",wiping visitors arses and showing them around the biggest museum in the world, I hope we can do better than that.GM is just a cog in the World Economy you and I are not even a speck of oil.