Big news in the automotive industry this week as General Motors made an epic u-turn on its decision to sell off Opel, attributing the change of heart to recovering sales figures. Initially the plan had been for the Opel brand to be picked up by a heavily state subsidised consortium involving Canadian parts manufacturer Magna. The UK government was also considering large grants to support the British arm of the company, Vauxhall, which has over 5,000 employees in Britain.
The abruptness of the decision has angered some in Government who have been working for some time to secure the future of the Opel and Vauxhall brands. However workers at the Ellesmere Port plant were cautiously optimistic this morning that the majority of the job cuts expected from the sell off would now be avoided. Unite spokesperson Tony Woodley has welcomed the decision, saying that workers would prefer “the devil they know”.
This news is also sure to spread some consternation amongst the VW and BMW brands, who would have been looking to carve up the European small car market between themselves following Opel’s demise. This would have been in addition to their continued assault on the 4×4 market, which will no doubt push the sector dominance of Land Rover before too long. To combat this Land Rover must continue to refine flagship models such as the Discovery and work to lower the cost of Land Rover Discovery parts.