Why General Motors Lost Billions in Europe
Little known in the U.S., the Vauxhall and Opel brands that GM is selling made some pretty awful cars.
The parent of Peugeot and Citroen - PSA Group - will become the new owners of the Vauxhall and Opel brands following a takeover of General Motors’ European business. GM, which bought control of the marques in the 1920s, has lost some $9 billion since 2009 in Europe, failing to bring crossover vehicles to market – models that ironically are coming to fruition now. The deal, worth roughly $2.3 billion, would be a good one for PSA Group, says David Bailey, professor of industry at Aston University in Birmingham, England. “Peugeot realize they’re getting it at a good time, on the cheap, and that they have a range of models that can turn the company around,” Bailey says. Once a status symbol, the cars over the decades generally evolved into basic transport. Here's the lowlights (and a few highlights) of GM's foray in Europe.
The Opel Kapitan was first produced in 1939 and kept rolling off the line until 1970. "The Kapitan was a car which in Germany represented people who had arrived at economic success," said Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, professor at the Center for Automotive Research at Universität Duisburg-Essen. So if you had a Kapitan, you've made it.