The PSA Groupe bought Opel from GM to make more money, rather to lose it. The French automaker is currently in the process of integrating the German brand into its business and, some reports state that it plans on letting go of the overwhelming majority of the Opel vehicle development team.
According to a recent Reuters report, many Opel engineers are likely to be replaced with those from PSA. Specifically, the report states that worker representatives fear that PSA will only retain 800 out of 7,700 Opel employees working in vehicle and program development once the integration is complete.
However, there is reason to believe that this might not be the case. PSA chief Carlos Tavares recently stated that the firm is not planning a mass exodus of employees.
“With Opel, our development capacity has grown by 50 percent. We now have the great opportunity to use this development power”, stated the CEO.
Even so, it seems that reductions in Opel employees and factories is unavoidable under PSA, which has stated time and time again that it will move quickly to integrate vehicles onto its architectures.
Opel is said to be working on a plan for profitability, which is due to its new parent firm in November. So, looks like we’ll see how this plays out in the next several months.
Comments
I don’t believe it. This appears to be pure scare mongering.
PSA and Opel engineers had already cooperated on developing the brothers Opel Crossland and Citroën C3 Aircross, the Grandland and Peugeot 3008, and the upcoming successort to Opel/Vauxhall Combo and Citroën Berlingo and Peugeot Partner.
A dpa-sourced article “PSA-Chef lobt Belegschaft, übt aber auch Kritik an Opel” on automobilwoche.de (dated Dienstag, 12. September 2017, 15.15 Uhr) reports that Tavares even wants to utilize the ITEZ[*] “by 110%” in order to move the Opel/Vauxhall models as fast as possible from GM proprietary technology to PSA owned ones and to develop compliance with CO2-restrictions.
In Automobilwoche own article or the same day two hours earlier titled “PSA-Chef will mit raschen Einsparungen rote Zahlen überwinden: Tavares: Allein Effizienz rettet Opel” the author writes that Tavares conceded that 3000 ITEZ-workers (of 7000) are busy with global GM development projects, but that “this does not mean that those are not needed. “With Opel, our development capacity increased by 50%. We now have the big chance to use this development power.”
There might also come up a cooperative GM-PSA development where Opel ITEZ engineers could play a role: after Fiat-Chrysler in 2011 got out of the cooperation in the minvans called “Eurovan” in favor of a Lancia version of the Chrysler Voyager and the corresponding commercial van in 2016, and PSA said goodby to their versions of the Fiat Fiorino commercial mini-minivan (less than 4 meters length), PSA might possibly also withdraw from the common production of the larger Fiat Ducato (Ram ProMaster) as Peugeot Boxer and Citroën Jumper, and develop — in order also to end the Opel/GM partnership with Renault producing the Movano — their own large van, with help of Opel-ITEZ engineers. And this could be a common project with GM to replace the ageing Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana.
[*]ITEZ = Internationales Technisches Entwicklungszentrum = en: International technical development center.
Good to hear! Makes me happy! Opel deserves what it gets
GM can rebirth GM Europe, with at first time development teams by bringing Opel engineers and and designers. then it could produce in Europe. But it depends if GM wants to come back Europe.
They would be very wise NOT to attempt coming back to Europe.
GM has to Come back in Europe. It has good product and can now be present with Chevrolet Buick and Cadillac.
GM just need a good strategy and communication
Maybe Holden might appear somewhere in the mix too?
Holden keeps its R&D design and engeneers.
Why should GM bring these people back to the company, they didn’t show any loyalty to GM before the sell happened!
I say promote qualified people from within GM and leave these former opel workers out on the street!
These opel workers didn’t have GM’S back so why should GM do anything different! Treat people like they treat you!
“These Opel workers didn’t have GM’S back so why should GM do anything different! Treat people like they treat you!”
Brian – I’m not sure your aim is at the right people. I don’t think Opel production line workers or employees at the ITDC actually wanted to leave GM and face the uncertainty that followed. Your aim should be at Opel Senior Management, where there is plenty to aim at ie virtually the whole lot!
Opel is a whole company from top down they all get the same medicine
What a dumb comment. If you would know anything about cars and GM, you would know how much engineering came from Germany and Opel into the GM company. It will be a huge loss for GM to work without these engineers in future.
I doubt that and I hope GM goes it alone to prove a point!
I know enough people on both sides, nobody can understand this decision from Mary Trump-Barra. But yeah, live your the-american-engineers-do-it-better dream
No problem! I’ll see you at unemployment line!
I don’t know about which people to be brought back to which company, but loyalty to the employer is not called for.
In this case, GM was responsible for thousands of people made unemployed by closing factories and laying off many many workers in the remaining factories and offices, and demanding wage cuts or the non-respect of the union’s collective contracts.
GM does not show loyalty to the Opel workers by simply selling them to somebody else, like a stock of cattle.
In other companies, the management, while demanding loyalty to the company, simply dismantled the company, as practiced just next to with the Hoechst AG, formerly one of the largest chemical companies world wide. Doermann, the CEO of Hoechst showed his “loyalty” to the workers by e.g. selling the company Jade, which excelled in decorative cosmetics, to the French giant L’Oreal while everybody knew that L’Oreal was only interested in the name, but did not need any of the Jade plants or any of the Jade workers.
No, loyalty i.e. submission to the boss does not pay, only workers solidarity can give results.
BTW, a number of those engineers layed off from the Opel development center because of GM’s cost cutting plans had to be rehired as outside consultants for a higher cost than their salary plus social security payments by the employer.
Cost cutting by increasing cost is a successful undertaking, it seems…
Music to my ears!
I guess now the Opel workers are about to find out what happened to the Holden workers.
Just keep the engineers responsible for developing compliance standards in the Opel-made US Buick-badged vehicles. You need that leverage to maintain the ‘foot in the door’ to the US market.
All the other engineers might be surplus to PSA strategy, especially where there are double-ups of expertise. Not forgetting PSA/Opel has a much bigger vehicle portfolio, and it follows, much higher engineering demands.
I think Opel’s possible loss may well be Hyundai’s gain. Hyundai have their very own HMTEC Technical Development Centre a short distance from the former GM facility in Russelheim, which is also part responsible for Kia development work as well. That all assumes of course there is actually some truth to these rumours, which may be a big assumption.