Reilly's plan

Opel expects profit

At the end of this year, German Opel can count on profit for the first time in several years. This was reported by Die Welt with reference to sources in the concern itself. According to the publication, in ten months of this year the company sold a total of 298.630 thousand cars on the German market, which is 34.5% more than in the same period last year. Yesterday it was officially announced that the head of the European divisions of General Motors, Nick Reilly, was appointed head of the German subsidiary.

It is curious that in terms of sales volume, Opel, whose fate until recently was subject to the most incredible scenarios, including the possibility of bankruptcy, has surpassed Volkswagen and Ford. Meanwhile, Mr Reilly spoke about his new tasks. He said that he came to Opel for a long time, and considers his post as an “exciting challenge.” In general, it is known about the strategy of the Opel chief that he will strive for greater independence of the German concern from General Motors. Thus, the new management plans to achieve the right of Germans to independently sell cars of this brand outside of Europe. The new head of the concern named Russia, China and Africa as attractive markets.

GM is increasingly calling on European governments to help bring Opel out of the crisis. Mr. Reilly demanded similar support from the German federal government. To quash speculation that parent company General Motors had recovered from the crisis to the point that it could finance Opel's restructuring on its own, Mr. Reilly said in a conference call last Saturday: "No, those allegations are not true."

Mr. Reilly further explained this idea with a simple example. The German federal government, he said, was supporting a consortium of Austro-Canadian Magna and Russia's Sberbank that wanted to buy Opel. Therefore, new, that is, old owners of this automaker also have the right to count on such help. Most European countries where the concern has production facilities supported this idea in one form or another. “We would certainly be disappointed,” Mr. Reilly admitted, “if Germany were the only country that refused aid.” However, the new chief of Opel did not determine the size of the proposed government loans, so as to, as he himself put it, “not pit one country against another.” It is known, however, that GM requires 3.3 billion euros to restructure its European business. Of these, 2.7 billion euros, according to the overseas concern, should be paid by the governments of European countries.

The new head of the board of Opel made it clear that plans to improve the concern are not directly dependent on state support, and the latter will not have an impact on the number of workers being laid off. Mr. Reilly also did not say how much staff would be reduced. However, he noted that this and the fate of the automaker’s production in Antwerp, around which there is an irreconcilable struggle between supporters and opponents of its preservation, will become known “at the end of this or the beginning of next year.” Opel's previous turnaround project, which included laying off up to 9 thousand workers, has now been completely abandoned. This figure, as Mr. Reilly explained, appeared at the beginning of the year and was only “part of an example of calculations.” At the same time, the Opel boss meaningfully promised: “We are looking for alternatives.”

Yuri Shpakov, Berlin