The Opel mess claims another victim. “Opel’s Karl-Friedrich Stracke stepped down from his position as chief executive of the embattled carmaker to take on “special assignments”, where he will report to the Chairman and CEO of parent General Motors,” Reuters says. (Read More…)

The new energy relationship between PSA Peugeot Citroen and BMW is just about done now that BMW and Toyota intensified their cooperation. An Opel executive dashed hopes that the French will be able to use GM technology instead.  “The honest answer is I can’t imagine that,” Opel development chief Rita Forst told  Reuters, when asked if the two companies would share green car technology.  (Read More…)

When Joel Ewanick left Hyundai and signed on as GM’s marketing top gun, some people asked when he would do something like Hyundai’s warranties. Others said GM won’t dare. Announcing two new programs, GM dares, carefully. (Read More…)

GM got itself a great new partner. Global sales of PSA Peugeot Citroen, the besieged company that is now 7 percent owned by the General, dropped 13 percent, Reuters says. PSA’s European sales dropped 15 percent, which illustrates how much PSA’s ill fortunes are tied to those of Europe. (Read More…)

Our patent-pending oracle for the Chinese market has spoken and predicts slight June gains for the world’s largest car market. GM China did this by announcing a 10.1 percent gain on 213,495 units sold in June. (Read More…)

At home, GM is at peace with the unions, benefits of having the UAW as a major shareholder. Abroad, GM Europe has been in a low intensity conflict with the European unions that oppose cuts at Opel. Now, a labor conflict flares up in an unexpected part of the world: Korea. (Read More…)

GM has blamed Western Europe location for Opel’s woes, unions, the economy. Opel has a brand crisis, and the crisis is “a self inflicted-wound,” says Christiaan Hetzner, Reuters’ man in Frankfurt, Germany, in an article on why Opel is in so much trouble. “Reputation is seen as the problem, not cars.” The recent attempts to move the Opel brand up-market ripped those old wounds open and could kill the patient. (Read More…)

Bloomberg is reporting that General Motors and Facebook are talking again, in an attempt to get GM to resume advertising on the social network. Meetings between GM CEO Dan Akerson and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg were being reported.

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GM do Brasil has been on a roll recently. While the early 00s saw GM running hard to get nowhere, the new decade has brought on some good news for the embattled, tired, old General. They are proving, at least in Brazil, that they still have some cartridges to burn.

To wit, the all-new, brand-new, super-new, ok, enough with all the new. A minivan: The Spin. Cool name, though somehow its significance will be lost on most Brazilians. The Spin seats 5 or 7, and in our tax-break-fueled-heated-up market, it’s sure to become a hot one. Don’t worry, be happy and buy now. Following the trail burned by our beloved technocrats in Brasília, Brazilians, and soon I’m sure, many hermanos, will be able to take the latest and the greatest from Detroit via São Caetano do Sul for, well, a spin. That is, if you have roughly 22 thousand greenbacks in your pocket, considering that now the dollar begets about 2 of our reais. (Read More…)

Tomorrow, Thursday, the management of Opel will present an allegedly comprehensive turnaround plan to its supervisory board, Reuters reports. If GM stockholders expect a big bang to lift their holdings, they will most likely be disappointed. The plan is expected to deliver less and that later. However, it looks like Opel might share pain and plants with PSA Peugeot Citroen. (Read More…)

Over the last 12 years, GM lost $16 billion in Europe, more than a billion each year. Ford is doing a bit better, but it sits on excess capacity of 300,000 units in Europe and expects a loss of $500 million to $600 million. Automotive News [sub] recommends to both: Pack up and leave. Says Luca Ciferri in AN: (Read More…)

Some people say Obama saved GM from the abyss. Some people say GM sold its soul to the Chinese devil to cheat death. In truth, the future of General Motors rests on the shoulders of a 5-foot-2 woman by the name of Diana Tremblay. Writes Ben Klayman at Reuters:

“Global manufacturing chief Diana Tremblay is one of the highest-ranking women in the automotive industry. Throughout her 35-year career at GM, she has made her mark in what were regarded as male domains, from directing foundry workers to staring down union labor negotiators.

Now she faces an even more critical task for the world’s largest automaker – ensuring the smooth 2013 introduction of the remodeled full-size pickup trucks and SUVs, GM’s high-profile equivalent of a new Apple iPhone. (Read More…)

GM is recalling 475,418 Chevrolet Cruze models built in the USA as a preventative measure against possible engine fires.

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As part of a very Russian “incentive program”, GM is more than doubling the output of its wholly owned manufacturing facility in St. Petersburg, Russia. Annual production will increase to 230,000 vehicles by 2015, up from 98,000 units currently. (Read More…)

Turmoil at GM’s new European partner PSA Peugeot Citroen. As if rumors of embargo-busting and of an impending guillotining of CEO Philippe Varin aren’t enough, now there are reports that BMW wants out of the hybrid alliance with PSA. (Read More…)