Despite the tangled nature of Opel and Buick, General Motors’ impending sale of Opel and Vauxhall to the PSA Group will not affect the U.S. brand’s cars and SUVs, General Motors executives said Tuesday at the unveiling of new Opel-based Regal models in suburban Detroit.
“The sale of Opel will have no impact on the fresh new lineup Buick is building out,” Duncan Aldred, GM’s vice president of global Buick and GMC, said before unveiling the 2018 Regals named the Sportback and the TourX. They’ll be built at Opel’s Rüsselsheim, Germany, plant, which is among six assembly plants, five component-manufacturing facilities, and an engineering center that are included in the $2.3 billion sale of GM’s European assets to the French maker of Peugeots and Citroëns.
“This is very much part of our portfolio plan,” explained Mark Reuss, GM’s executive vice president of global product development, purchasing, and supply chain. “As we said, Opel and the engineering/production piece of this is very much intact for all of our global platforms. So, you know, no impact.”
Later, Reuss was asked if GM would have to pay PSA for future engineering work done at Opel; he replied that he was not sure of a specific agreement yet and noted that those kinds of operations are “pretty integrated.” He said there are component- and vehicle-related pieces to the deal that are now being sorted out.
“When we look to close the deal, we’ll have all those things in place,” Reuss said. He also said continued partnerships in electrification as well as diesel powertrain technology are among the post-sale possibilities. The Detroit automaker’s deal with PSA is expected to close by the end of the year.
GM’s Buick brand and Opel currently share four co-developed products: the Buick Verano and Opel Astra notchback, which has been discontinued for the U.S. market; the Buick Encore (above) and Opel Mokka; the Buick Regal and Opel Insignia; and the Buick and Opel Cascada, which was called an “example of the two brands’ successful collaboration” when it was revealed in early 2015.
The Opel/Vauxhall sale would make PSA, which includes the Peugeot, Citroën and DS Automobiles brands, the second-largest European automaker behind only Volkswagen. That’s a spot PSA held as recently as 2015, but last year it was overtaken by the Renault Group. The transaction is valued at about $2.3 billion, including about $1.4 billion for Opel/Vauxhall and nearly $1 billion for GM Financial’s European operations. GM has lost money on its European arm for the last 16 years straight.
Although the European brands were posting losses for GM, PSA aims to hit an operating margin of 2 percent by 2020 and of 6 percent by 2026. PSA chairman Carlos Tavares has said cost savings will be generated by synergies in purchasing and R&D, not via plant closures, according to Reuters.
The Opel Insignia made its official debut last month at the Geneva auto show, but as images of its sedan and wagon variants leaked ahead of time, rumors began to swirl of a five-door Regal bound for the U.S. market. It turns out both stateside 2018 Regals are hatchbacks, although the Regal Sportback very much resembles a sedan.
Americans have been shying away from sedans in favor of crossovers and SUVs, a trend Reuss acknowledged Tuesday. “There’s no denying car sales have slowed, and trucks, crossovers, and SUVs are holding sway in the market today,” he said. “But last time I checked, mid-size sedans were still the third largest segment in the industry. So it’s not like nobody buys them.” There are sales to be had out there, he added, and said new sedans just need to stand out. That’s where vehicles such as the Regal Sportback and the Regal TourX will come in, he said.
from Car and Driver BlogCar and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/2nbrfMJ
via IFTTT
0 comments:
Post a Comment