Main focus of Friday, September 11, 2009

General Motors sells Opel

After months of negotiations the US carmaker General Motors (GM) has agreed to sell its German subsidiary Opel to the Austro-Canadian auto parts supplier Magna and the Russian Sberbank. The buyers plan to slash around 10,000 jobs in Europe. Reports have it that while Opel's four German plants will stay open, the Belgian plant in Antwerp will be shut down.

De Morgen - Belgium

After the takeover of Opel by the auto parts supplier Magna the Opel plant in Antwerp hardly stands a chance of survival and the death throes have begun, writes the daily De Morgen. "With large financial backing from the German government, Magna now has the say and must tackle the job of winding down overcapacities. You don't have to be a doomsayer to worry that the first step won't be to adopt objective and measurable criteria, but above all to serve German interests according to the motto: 'our factories first'. [Chancellor] Angela Merkel and Germany happen to be bigger than [Belgian Prime Minister] Herman Van Rompuy and [Minister-President of Flanders] Kris Peeters put together, no matter how many trips they took to Detroit and how many letters they sent to the European Commission. Even in a United Europe blood is thicker than water, and Flanders remains a mini-state with little international influence or powers of persuasion." (11/09/2009)

» full article (external link, Dutch)
More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Germany, » Belgium
All available articles from » Yves Desmet

Cinco Días - Spain

General Motors' decision to sell the bulk of Opel stock to Magna makes the loss of many jobs at Spain's Figueruelas Opel plant highly likely. The left-liberal business paper Cinco Días sees German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the winner in this tug of war: "The lengthy process of negotiation can be summed up in three words: Merkel has won. Her resolute backing of the Russian-Canadian bid included the condition that the bulk of the work force and production restructuring would take place outside Germany. This was decisive. Half of Opel's 50,000 employees in Europe work in Germany. And she bet thousands of millions of euros on this option in the midst of the election campaign. … That's why the Opel plant in Figueruelas (Zaragoza) will be at a disadvantage with respect to the group's other plants." (11/09/2009)

» full article (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » Germany, » Spain, » U.S.

Blog Carta - Germany

Writing for the authors' blog Carta, Ursula Weidenfeld expresses mixed feelings about the rescue of Opel plants by selling the carmaker to car parts supplier Magna. With only weeks to go before the federal elections take place the German ruling parties have had to take a lot of flak, she writes: "The relief of the Berlin election campaigners is unmistakable. The US government will demand recompense for the favour it is doing the ruling parties as GM's majority shareholder. … The Americans have decided how and when they want it and what they think is appropriate. This isn't particularly nice of them but it is their right to do so. They are the owners of GM and shareholders in the Opel trust, as they reminded the Germans on Thursday. They kept them on tenterhooks for a while and made it clear: German interests - whether political or job-related - don't count. Unless the price is right - for GM." (11/09/2009)

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » Elections, » Germany, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » Ursula Weidenfeld

Financial Times - United Kingdom

The British business paper Financial Times takes a dim view of the German deal with General Motors: "That German tenacity prevailed in the end is a pity for German taxpayers, who will now put up 4.5 billion euros in loan guarantees to the group, instead of the 3.2 billion [financial investor and potential buyer] RHJ was prepared to accept. The consequences for the German economy are even worse. GM had warned that market conditions would force cuts among its 25,000 German employees; the change in ownership does nothing to alter the commercial outlook. If the [German] government avoids cuts, it will be by using the bloated car sector as an expensive job scheme. As with cash-for-clunkers, this merely gives the problem time to grow before it is addressed." (11/09/2009)

» full article (external link, English)
More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Germany

Les Echos - France

The business daily Les Echos dedicates its leading article to the state of the European automotive industry after the sale of GM subsidiary Opel: "America has cut to the chase. Social benefits are being questioned amidst bankruptcies at General Motors and Chrysler and waves of layoffs. The United States has been brutal in turning the page on the golden age of the automobile. The European automotive industry, on the contrary, gives every impression of having remained stuck in its tracks during the worst crisis in the history of the car. Opel, the sickest of the big European carmakers, has escaped bankruptcy. No major plant closures have been announced on this side of the Atlantic. And rather than being laid off entirely, the employees have had their hours reduced. In supporting demand and the industrialists, politicians in both France and Germany have helped to put off painful adjustments." (11/09/2009)

» full article (external link, French)
More from the press review on the subject » Corporations, » Economic Policy, » Europe, » U.S.
All available articles from » David Barroux

» To the complete press review of Friday, September 11, 2009