GM Loosens Opel Reins

Opel to be sold beyond Europe

General Motors is down to managing four brands in North America now that Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Hummer have been sold or shut down.

Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet and Buick comprise its North American brands, but the company also owns Holden (Australia), Daewoo (Korea), Vauxhall (UK) and Opel (Europe). Holden and Daewoo are sold beyond their local markets, but Opel is not. Vauxhall is Opel in the UK and other markets, selling the same models under a different brand.

Up until now, Opel has been sold only in Europe. Its cars, which have been reworked and sold in the United States as the Saturn Astra, Buick Regal and Chevrolet Cruze, are a good fit for other markets, but GM has kept tight reins on the brand. However, that is about to change.

Opel Initiative

According to Crain Communication’s Automobilwoche (Automobile Week), a sister publication to Automotive News, Opel will soon be sold in China. GM has been enjoying a booming success in China where its Buick brand is a national darling. Chevrolet is sold there too as are some Daewoo products.

Interestingly, Australia is another market where the Opel brand is slated to be sold. That’s Holden territory, but the products likely to be sold down under should be different. Indeed, although the Opel Astra inspired the Holden/Chevrolet Cruze, they are not the same cars. Conceivably, Opel could sell the Astra there too.

Other Markets

Opel will also be selling its cars in two unidentified South American market and one unnamed Asian market besides China. Likely, some of those models will compete against existing GM brands which could present a problem for GM if the Opel introduction isn’t carefully managed.

Following its 2009 bankruptcy filing and reorganization, the General Motors Company has been on a fast track to remaking itself.  In North America and elsewhere, capacity has been realigned to match demand, reducing model availability to their lowest levels in memory.

Opel China

Opel isn’t entirely knew to China as Automobilwoche reports that its cars have been on sale there since mid-2009, with 4,000 units sold. That’s chump change in the world’s largest consumer market, something GM will rectify when the import reins are loosened.

Expect GM to continue to look at new markets for Opel, but the United States and Canada won’t be considered. GM has learned its brand management lesson and is doing what it can to bolster its four surviving North American brands.

Ed Whitacre Named As Permanent GM CEO

There is nothing permanent at General Motors especially when it comes to the position of chief executive officer.

This past December Ed Whitacre Jr. was named as temporary CEO, replacing Fritz Henderson who took over from Rick Wagoner earlier in the year. When Whitacre assumed his duties GM immediately launched a search for the company’s next CEO, but they did not have to look very far: GM will be announcing today that Ed will assume this position permanently.

Whitacre Formalizes Control

According to The Wall Street Journal, Whitacre will announce at a news conference today that he is the company’s CEO. That conference was initially scheduled to apprise the public of GM’s progress post bankruptcy, but will now include details about Whitacre’s ascendancy. Whitacre recently appointed a new chief financial officer, Chris Liddell, who was formerly CFO at Microsoft Corporation, demonstrating his influence over the automaker.

Whitacre seems to be a natural for the position although last year he stirred up some controversy when he said, “I don’t know anything about cars.” Before assuming his position at GM as chairman last June, Whitacre had a lengthy track record in the phone industry, having worked for Southwestern Bell (SBC), Cingular, and AT&T before retiring in 2007.

Opel Decision Reversed

However, the 68 year old Texan has been perceived by some as being the necessary outsider who can shake up GM, a company dominated by insiders, many of whom have been blamed for contributing to the automaker’s sorry financial state which led to a colossal bail out and bankruptcy restructuring. Whitacre’s influence was made evident when he went over Henderson’s head last fall by reversing GM’s decision to sell Opel, a move that also alienated some in Europe.

Still, Opel is widely seen as being critical to GM’s small car future, as the brand has designed several important models including the soon to be released Chevrolet Cruze and the Buick Regal. Whitacre has been working behind the scenes to make peace with GM’s European operation which also includes Chevrolet, Vauxhall, and Saab.

Whitacre was installed as board chairman by the Obama administration to safeguard taxpayer interest in the company which includes some $50 billion in loans. Canada and Ontario also have a stake in GM whose stock is now considered to be worthless.

Saab Sale Near?

In related news, Dutch exotic supercar manufacturer Spyker Cars NV is expected to announce that it has come to terms with GM to purchase Saab Automobile AB according to USA Today. Spyker’s quest to buy Saab has been an on again off again process with GM threatening to abandon Saab if no deal is forthcoming.

The Current & Soon Coming Chevy Cruze!

Already on sale in South Korea, Australia and soon in Europe, the Chevy Cruze will go on sale summer 2010 as a 2011 model.

General Motors is in the process of a historic reorganization, one that could help the one-time global automotive leader pare excess brands while rolling out a number of new models. You probably have heard of the Chevy Volt, that plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) that is just the beginning of the automaker’s quest to transform itself into a company producing revolutionary, highly efficient cars.

What you may not have heard about is the Chevy Cruze, which is based on the Volt’s platform, but will be powered by an economical, gasoline engine. This car has already been introduced in several markets, beginning last year in South Korea. By 2011, the Cruze will be sold across GM’s entire market including here in North America. To that end, this site is dedicated to tracking the Cruze’s progress as well as letting you know a bit more about this game changing car.

Advanced Engineering, Highly Fuel Efficient

Powered by a 1.6L I4 engine, the Cruze is paired with a five-speed manual or optional six-speed automatic transmission. GM also offers 1.4, 1.8 and 2.0L I4 engines depending on the market, the latter being a turbo-diesel engine which is already being sold in Australia as the Holden Cruze. It is believed that a direct-injection version of the 1.4L engine will be made available in the US, a car that GM says should get at least 40 mpg on the highway.

The Cruze is expected to replace the Chevy Cobalt and the Pontiac G5, the latter model which will simply die when the Pontiac name is retired at the end of 2010. Seating five passengers, the Cruze will include all of the latest safety and engineering features that customers expect, but it’ll be priced competitively. GM hasn’t announced pricing yet – the car goes into production in April 2010 – but a price in the neighborhood of $17,000 seems likely.

Lordstown, Ohio Assembly Plant Production

Last summer, GM announced that production for the US spec Cruze would be assigned to the company’s Lordstown Assembly Plant in Ohio, a $500 million retooling investment would help bring the Cruze online. Former GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rick Wagoner, said at an August 21, 2008 news conference that the Cruze was designed and engineered by the company’s teams in Europe and Asia Pacific and would be manufactured in those regions as well as in Ohio.

Though the company is now going through a painful and deep restructuring, the Cruze project continues as does production for the Volt.  While the Volt be produced in small numbers, the Cruze will be mass produced and could quickly become the best selling model in the GM fleet whether sold as a Holden, Opel, Vauxhall, Chevrolet or Daewoo model.

Photo courtesy of GM Corp.