GM Europe boss outlines future for Opel/Vauxhall

Tuesday, 19 January 2010

Nick Reilly, the boss of Opel/Vauxhall, has spelled out the future plans for GM's European operation in a detailed address to all staff.

Reilly, who was confirmed as the CEO of Opel/Vauxhall this week, stressed that both Vauxhall and Opel brands would remain in place and the name Opel/Vauxhall would be used internally for the pan-European organisation.

Greater autonomy
He also hinted that the European business would seek greater autonomy in the future although he urged empoloyees not to blame General Motors for all of the corporation's recent problems.

"Much has been said about the problems in the relationship between Opel/Vauxhall and our parent headquarters. A greater level of autonomy has been called for. In some ways I agree with this and the pendulum swung too far to the side of a global communality, not respecting local or regional needs and differences of customer preferences. That is why we are stressing the need to have our design and engineering people, together with marketing, ensure the Opel/Vauxhall DNA is in every car we sell and all our external communications.

"However, I disagree that we can blame our difficulties on this relationship. This is just an excuse to take the responsibility away from ourselves. It displays a weak victim mentality. While we need the authority and autonomy to make the right decisions for Opel/Vauxhall, we also need to recognise the huge benefits we derive from being part of the GM family," he said.

Company aim
Reilly said his aim for the company was to be viewed as a leading European car manufacturer of high quality cars based on German engineering.

He also said he had no illusions about the task facing the company.

"We don't just have to turn our operating results around in normal circumstances. We must deal with a very difficult market environment. In 2010 we expect the Western European market to be 1.5 million units lower than an already weak 2009. So, we need to move fast," he said.

He also revealed the company would shortly introduce a new marketing campaign based around the slogan "Wir leben Autos" ("We live for cars").