The life cycle of your typical Opel GT appears to have gone like this: 8 years on the street, 30 years up on blocks in the back yard, then a quick stop in the wrecking yard before getting crushed. I haven’t seen a GT on the street for years, but they’re quite common in The Crusher’s waiting room. Here’s a pair of GTs I spotted at a Denver self-service yard. (Read More…)

The following is a “Confidential” memo from the US embassy in Berlin, leaked in the latest Wikileaks dump, describing German reaction to GM’s flip-flop decision to not sell its German subsidiary, Opel. The memo reveals that Germany saw GM as a “unreliable partner” and that at least one German government official believed that “if the U.S. Government had GM under better control, this would not have happened.” The document also confirms that GM scuttled the deal largely over concerns about Russian access to its intellectual property, and that Opel may well have been happy to see the deal fall apart rather than face losing its entire BMW supply business. Though none of this information is completely new, the leaked document provides a fascinating insight into the muddled mess that was the Opel rescue.

BERLIN 00001395 001.2 OF 002

Classified By: ECONMIN Robert A. Pollard for reasons 1.4 (b,d).

1. (C) Summary: Just hours after Chancellor Merkel’s historic November 3 address to a joint session of Congress, General Motors (GM) canceled its sale of Opel to Canadian auto parts manufacturer Magna. The decision, which followed repeated assurances from GM that it was a done deal, came as a complete shock in Germany and dominated media coverage throughout the day. Merkel herself was reportedly highly upset over GM’s flip flop. Ulrich Wilhelm, the Chancellor’s spokesman on Opel said the German government “regretted” the decision, and reminded GM that it must now repay Berlin’s 1.5 billion bridge loan to Opel by the end of the month, while FDP Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle described GM’s action as “totally unacceptable.” The cabinet was expected to discuss the GM move on November 4. Opel’s labor unions, which had strongly backed the Magna sale because of its promise to save jobs and keep plants open, announced that workers would withdraw all concessions made under the terms of the Magna deal and start a general strike at Opel plants on November 5. While anger is widespread, there are already some voices outside the government advocating acceptance of GM’s announcement as the only viable alternative to a total collapse of Opel. End Summary.

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Ready to buy some GM share tomorrow? A consummate insider who sits on the board of an important GM company says: Don’t.

Klaus-Franz, Chair of the Opel works council and Vice Chairman of the Opel supervisory board warns:  “The IPO is premature. Sure, GM has delivered three good quarters. But he restructuring in Europe must be finished to give investors the visibility they need.”

Franz knows the skeletons hidden in Opel’s closet. In an interview with Germany’s Focus Magazine, Franz gives valuable investment advice to potential GM shareholders. To repeat: “Don’t.” (Read More…)

America – the greatest country on earth. At least when it comes to Chevy Volt prices. You think its $41,000 tag is expensive? Wait until you hear what the Europeans will have to fork over for the rebadged Opel Ampera, and the Volt will look like the greatest deal on earth. Especially after subsidies. Ready? (Read More…)

Oh, to be a fly on the wall of the GM boardroom:

“Did you see the latest Opel numbers?”

“Jeez! Horrible!”

“What are these clowns thinking? We have an IPO to close.”

“Talk about timing. We should have sold them to the Russians. Who was the moron that cancelled that deal?”

“Whitacre.”

“I hope the next rattlesnake wins.”

Indeed, the news from Rüsselsheim aren’t good, and with the IPO closing this coming week, they could not have come at a more inopportune time. (Read More…)

Pity the Buick Regal GS. Since the idea of a hotted-up Opel Insignia was floated for the US market, fans imagined that Opel’s epic Insignia OPC would be headed stateside, complete with 325 horsepower, 2.8 liter turbocharged V6 and all wheel drive. Buick reps quickly ruled out the turbo-six engine, as GM’s corporate order demanded that the engine be limited to “premium” Cadillac and Saab models. Then we found out that the Regal GS would have the same turbocharged Ecotec four-cylinder engine found in its Regal Turbo sister model, tuned from 220 to 255 horsepower, leading us to conclude that

That engine can reportedly be tuned to an easy 310 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque, making the “base” Regal CXL with the 220 hp 2.0T engine a much smarter buy. Unless the idea of tuning a Buick is simply more cognitive dissonance than you can handle. Otherwise, the only thing the GS really brings to the table is AWD and a bodykit with more front-end venting than the United States Senate.

Well, now it’s time to knock another item off the list: Automotive News [sub] reports that the GS will not get AWD because

We really don’t think consumers will want that feature… It does take away from some of the performance capability of the vehicle.

Which is doubly strange considering that AN is forced to note that

The Regal GS will accelerate slightly slower than expected, with estimates having it reach 60 mph at less than seven seconds. In January, executives said the production car would accelerate about one second faster.

D’oh! With the Regal Turbo hitting 60 in about 7.5 seconds, it’s beginning to look like the GS really is all about the bodykit. The saddest part of all this: the GS will still technically be “the sportiest Buick ever,” and will certainly be marketed as such, just as the Regal Turbo is now.

Despite losing $600m, Vauxhall/Opel is planning for the future. They’re bringing the Chevrolet Volt to Europe and they expect to be back in the black by 2012. Now, it appears, they want to fill that hole in their lineup. You know? That city car sized hole? Just below the Corsa.

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When GM went on the begging tour around Europe, they had dire projections. They expected a loss of $1.7b or thereabouts for 2009. Can’t have such bad news before an IPO. And imagine the elation when the big bottom line was drawn under the books of the 2009 fiscal – and Opel had lost only $600m. Who dunnit? (Read More…)

GM has a $530m millstone around its neck. It’s the closed and unsold Antwerp plant. Nobody wants it. The Antwerp assets are turning into a liability which endangers the GM IPO. Now it looks like GM found a savior that could take the plant off their hands. Guess where he comes from. Hint: Not from Washington. (Read More…)

With GM repositioning its IPO to target US retail investors, we find ourselves motivated to once again sound the alarm about one of the major drains facing The General’s taxpayer-provided cash pile: the restructuring of its European Opel division. Opel slated its Antwerp, elgium plant for closure earlier this year, but at the time GM was trying to find a buyer for the plant. In May we noted that automotive overcapacity on the continent made finding a buyer for Opel Antwerp a tall order, and sure enough, Bloomberg reports that a buyer has not been found. What Bloomberg leaves out of its write-up: GM is now stuck with the €400m ($530m+) bill to pay off all those unemployed workers. A half-billion here, a half-billion there… soon you’re talking about real money.

If cars have DNA, as it is being repeatedly claimed, then perception gap must be running in the family at GM. Now, Opel has admitted that they are afflicted by the syndrome. “I agree with you that the brand has great potential to be hipper and younger,” said Alain Visser, chief marketing officer of Opel in Automobilwoche [sub]. And they are trying real hard. They engaged German songstress Lena as an advertising icon. Not the “99 Luftballons” Nena. It#s a sound-alike, Lena Meyer-Landrut of dubious Eurovision fame. Further forays are imminent.  Says Visser: “After the music, we will occupy the themes of sport, art and science.” (Read More…)

The last time we looked at the evolving Opel Astra coupe, I wondered

what do you call a Buick coupe that could fit under the hood of a classic Riviera?

Though we have a much better idea of what the Astra Coupe looks like, and we know that the Astra sedan/wagon will be called the Buick Verano in the US market, the question remains unanswered. Surely “Buick Verano Coupe” is too bland for what could (in theory) be the next Integra/RSX. Skyhawk? Apollo? Wildcat? Or is the dearth of promising names indicative of the challenges facing any compact Buick Coupe?

The current mantra at General Motors: Everybody and everything look sharp and attractive for the coming IPO. During the sprucing-up operations, there are times when someone at RenCen sighs: “Maybe we should have gotten rid of Opel after all.” (Read More…)

Opel’s German dealer association left the Zentralverband des Kraftfahrzeuggewerbes (ZDK) in a huff, says Automobilwoche [sub] First, what’s a ZDK? It’s Germany’s umbrella organization of the car business. You need to be an industry organization to be a member. Next to the manufacturer organization VDA, the ZDK is the most powerful lobbying group of the car business. And what made the Opel dealers to hand in their membership cards and leave?

ZDK President Robert “Robby” Rademacher had strong words for Opel’s Lifetime Guarantee: “If the Wettbewerbszentrale  would not have taken the case, the ZDK would have taken Opel to court.” (Read More…)

When Opel needed a a low-cost subcompact for the European market, it did what all good car companies do: rebadged a Suzuki. And thus, the Opel Agila was born. For the latest version of the Agila, which debuted in 2008, Opel opted to let Suzuki build the car itself at its Hungarian plant (alongside the Suzuki SX4 and Fiat Seidici). It also tasked its Managing Director, a man known around the office as “Mr Opel,” with developing the new micro-MPV in partnership with Suzuki. For his trouble, Mr Opel (aka Hans Demant) was then shunted aside by GM, and ended up being poached by VW to head up “international project coordination.” Quite by coincidence (or not), VW’s biggest international project is in building new low-cost small cars with… Suzuki. Automotive News [sub]’s Paul McVeigh notes that

Neither GM or Opel has commented publicly on Demant’s defection to archrivals VW. But executives are said to be very angry in private.

But then, GM could hardly have expected Demant to stick around after having been shuffled off to “intellectual property protection” after nearly 40 years of service to Opel at some of the highest levels. The fact that he’d just been demoted at a time when Opel’s owners in the RenCen were enjoying record-low popularity in Germany made the move all the more likely. And because it’s happened at a time that Opel is struggling for its life makes the move just as damaging to GM as it is a windfall for VW.