GM makes $700 million loss in Europe

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 13:34
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - Auristocrat

GM unveiled a record profit $7.6 billion for 2011 (£4.85 billion). However they also unveiled a $700 million loss in Europe, and $100 million loss in South America. They have lost money on their European (Opel/Vauxhall) operation for over a decade - vehicles costing too much to build and profit margins low.

Plant closures at Ellesmere Port and Bochum are being considered as part of further swinging cuts.

GM has redefined Opel/Vauxhall's role in their global staregy by forging closer links with Buick. This will place Opel/Vauxhall products above Chevrolet, and alongside Buick with a view to concentrating on markets like Russia and China. They have supposeldy made a start to selling 'premium-like products' with the Insignia.

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 13:41
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - carl_a

There doesn't seem to be a reason to buy a GM product, there cars are all pretty average really. To the private motorist the cars aren't that well priced to buy new, pre registered and nearly new may be ok but then you don't get the unlimited warranty.

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Sun 19 Feb 2012 18:15
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - Roly93

There doesn't seem to be a reason to buy a GM product, there cars are all pretty average really. To the private motorist the cars aren't that well priced to buy new, pre registered and nearly new may be ok but then you don't get the unlimited warranty.

Thats about the size of it really. Although Chevvy have a great name in the US, the yanks fail to see the jaded brand image GM has in Europe. At present it is laughable that they truly believe the Insignia is going after the Prestige market by just making them more expensive than the Vectra was. I used to love my Cavalier SRis but no Vauxhalls for my family for the forseable future.

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 13:48
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - BigJohnD

Vauxhall need a major hike in quality, style, value and even honesty to attract me back.

The brand new Astra I bought a few years from "Ellesmere Port - The Home of the Astra" to do my bit for UK PLC had "Opel - Made in Germany" stamped all over, which was not what I expected.

Edited by BigJohnD on 16/02/2012 at 13:48

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 13:52
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - ChannelZ

. They have supposeldy made a start to selling 'premium-like products' with the Insignia.

Supposedly is right.

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 14:04
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - diddy1234

I do fear that Vauxhall are not employing the best tech in their cars.

Ford have the ecoboost engine out and also have trimmed weight on their latest shape Fiesta.

What have vauxhall got ?

A mildly warmed over of the 1.4L engine with a turbo bolted on and a Corsa shape that is how many years old ?

Also the Corsa seems to get heavier every time a new shape comes out.The engines for the Corsa just seemed to be tweaked to get a few more horses out of them.

Hardly forward thinking is it ?

I think that the likes of the Koreans and Ford are going to do very well out of lost sales from Vauxhall owners in the future.

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 14:33
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - madf

Me too cars compared to teh Korenas who are cheaper and better made.

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Thu 16 Feb 2012 20:53
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - primeradriver

I think that the likes of the Koreans and Ford are going to do very well out of lost sales from Vauxhall owners in the future.

More to the point, I think the Koreans are going to do very well out of gained sales from 'Vauxhall' owners in the future!

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Mon 20 Feb 2012 14:56
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - ChannelZ

I think that the likes of the Koreans and Ford are going to do very well out of lost sales from Vauxhall owners in the future.

More to the point, I think the Koreans are going to do very well out of gained sales from 'Vauxhall' owners in the future!

We bougt a new i30 two years ago for £10k. Better spec than 1 year old Focii or Astras with crummy spec and engines at the same price.

i30 Comfort, 108PS 1.4 petrol that does 44mpg, aircon, Bluetooth, 4 electric windows, AUX port, 6 speakers, cargo net, remote radio controls, etc, etc.

See what your 10k gets in an Astra or Focus...

I drive a Ford, it'll be my last one. I had 5 Vauxhalls, never again there either...

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Fri 17 Feb 2012 00:22
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - unthrottled

Ford have the ecoboost engine out and also have trimmed weight on their latest shape Fiesta.

What have vauxhall got ?

A mildly warmed over of the 1.4L engine with a turbo bolted on and a Corsa shape that is how many years old ?

There's not a lot of genuinely new ideas in internal combustion engines-the best iterations tend to come from refinement from existing ideas. As a general rule of thumb, the more promising the marketing, the more disappointing the final result. 'ecoboost' is as pretty nauseating-even by marketing standards. I think the port injected GM 1.4 will fare favourably when compared to the supposedly organic, fairtrade Ford offering.

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Fri 17 Feb 2012 16:12
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - barney100
I don't think GM have enough kudos to be a premium car maker. They need to produce a decent quality car for a reasonable price and have good customer relations to win sales.
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Fri 17 Feb 2012 16:46
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - Auristocrat
According to Auto Express this week. Vauxhall are considering bringing in a Vauxhall-badged version of the Cadillac ATS as an executive car to top their range.
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Sat 18 Feb 2012 04:17
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - 1litregolfeater

I can't wait.

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Sat 18 Feb 2012 14:19
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - Avant

The problem for Vauxhall, at least in the UK, is that for people buying in their segments, Fords are better to drive and VAG (at least in my view) are better built and hold their value. Vauxhall are somewhere in the middle, with no overwhelming reason to buy one unless a dealer has a particulrly good offer. Without fleet sales they would be nowhere. And now that the Koreans want a slics of the same market, Vauxhall will be squeezed still further.

As one who has never owned a Vauxhall in 40 years, I'm not too upset, although it would be a great shame if jobs are lost because GM bosses lack the imagination to give their products a USP.

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Mon 20 Feb 2012 08:29
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - Happy Blue!

GM in Europe are a shower. In the early 1980s that had a great product range based around new FWD models of Astra and Cavalier that were far superior to Escort and Sierra/Cortina. But over the years the quality failed to improve and Ford suddenly understood about drivability and then quality. At the same time, they successfully managed to destroy Saab, a great brand with a fantastic image, but marred by parts bin engineering so the GM origins were clearly visible in the worst areas.

They no longer possess in either Europe or Korea a single model which has a good USP.

They are average and in the current market, average will not do.

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Mon 20 Feb 2012 15:45
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - dieseldogg

Producing a very recently introduced small (1.7) diesel automatic which only does 35mpg approx is hardly "cutting edge design".

37 is one is careful on a longer run

c.f. 50 mpg genuine in a bigger VW group car

Not impressed

M

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Mon 20 Feb 2012 16:11
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - madf

I remember the fuss when Opel outsold VW in Germany late 70s I think.

After that VW came ut with the Golf and upped quality levels. Vauxhall engine quality (1.2 cams anyone ?) has declined over the years..

I believe Opel profits were used to prop up GM US when it was losing money big style and European investment curtailed.

As for a Vauxhall badged Caddy being upmarket that's tautology..

It does not compute.

Someone's smoking dope.

Edited by madf on 20/02/2012 at 16:11

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Mon 20 Feb 2012 18:49
GM makes $700 million loss in Europe - jamie745

But over the years the quality failed to improve and Ford suddenly understood about drivability and then quality.

Im a big Ford fan but i'll admit their late 80s/early 90's cars were pretty shocking. Only the Granada seemed to have any money actually invested in it at Ford. Bean counters ran the company and they made bad cars which looked good, backed up by good marketing. I think it was the Mk V Escort which broke the camels back, a truly shocking car which was re-designed within a couple of years. It was about this time when engineers started to get their way over the bean counters, resulting in the class leading Mondeo. Now they make cars which are well built, sell well and drive well.

At the same time, they successfully managed to destroy Saab, a great brand with a fantastic image

Saab would've died years ago if but for GM buying them, we have been over this dozens of times before. Its getting very old now. Im so bored of hearing about Saab's 'fantastic brand image' which never actually sold any cars.

Edited by jamie745 on 20/02/2012 at 18:50

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