Vauxhall/Opel chairman Nick Reilly has highlighted the company’s profitability, engineering capabilities and future product plan in response to reports from Germany suggesting parent company GM is looking to sell its European subsidiary again.
GM dropped plans to sell Vauxhall/Opel off in 2009, but rumours surfaced last week that it was reconsidering its move. Reilly is unable to comment directly on the reports because of strict stock market regulations, but appeared to shrug them off when he outlined Vauxhall/Opel’s strengths and value to GM.
“The GM senior management in Detroit has expressed its pleasure at our progress, noted that our recovery is ahead of plans, that our market share is up, that our financial results are up and that we have strength not just in terms of sales, but also in our engineering capability,” Reilly told Autocar.
“Our first quarter results this year left us in profit before a deduction was made for an accounting adjustment as part of our restructuring. We are way ahead of where we expected to be, and in 2012 we should see the full benefit of our restructuring, which will drive costs down at the same time as new products come on stream and give us hope of driving up our market share.”
Vauxhall will launch the Astra GTC later this year, with Astra coupe and cabriolet models to follow. The Vauxhall Zafira and Ampera will also go on sale in 2012, while it is also known the company is developing two city cars.
Jim Holder
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