General Motors Ditches Opel for $2.3 Billion
After 20 years of taking losses on its European outpost, GM cuts and runs.
General Motors has agreed to let go of its struggling European operations at the end of the year in a deal said to be worth $2.3 billion. Peugeot SA will acquire Opel and Vauxhall in the exchange, making PSA the second largest carmaker in Europe after Volkswagen.
It's been a long road for the General, whose departure from Europe comes after the company has failed for nearly two decades to make money. CNN reports that Opel and Vauxhall have lost a combined $18 billion over the last 16 years, highlighting the struggle for Generator Motor’s European operations.
GM has provided the platforms for Opel and Vauxhall cars, and after the sale, PSA will likely transition Peugeot platforms as soon as possible. There is also speculation that Opel will become PSA's all-electric brand. The sale comes at a time when the United Kingdom is executing its Brexit from the European Union, so many questions will hang over the Vauxhall brand—particularly whether its Ellemere factory, where 2,000 employees assemble the popular Astra, will stay open.
