The history of Opel and Vauxhall is long and convoluted, but what stands out most is the lack of profitability since 1999. Bad management is the primary cause for this lack of financial results, and in the eleventh hour, General Motors agreed to part ways with the European division after Groupe PSA made an offer of €2.2 billion.
Revealed in the French automaker’s half-year financial results, Opel and Vauxhall posted an operating profit of €502 million as opposed to the $257 million loss in the first half of 2016 under the control of the American automaker. The question is, how did Groupe PSA manage to pull this off with just the Crossland X and Grandland X?
Looking at the bigger picture, Groupe PSA slashed some jobs here, re-calibrated production there, and so forth, all while keeping Opel and Vauxhall as German and British as possible. There’s still unrest among the workforce over the expectations of the French automaker, and in truth, both brands haven’t unleashed their full potential.
“Our agility and strong focus on execution remain a strong asset to reach our targets,” declared Carlos Tavares, the chairman and chief executive officer of all things Groupe PSA. As the second-largest automaker in Europe following the buyout from General Motors, the French conglomerate has to make sure that all targets are met in a timely fashion if it wants to put up a fight against the Volkswagen Group.
So far, the acquisition has helped Groupe PSA boost revenue by 40.1 percent in 2018 to €38.595 billion. Operating profit is on an upward spiral as well, up by 48.1 percent to €3.017 billion. Read what you will into these figures, but if an accountant were to go over the financial results, he’d give the French juggernaut the thumbs up for these accomplishments.
After losing more than $20 billion under General Motors, it’s a relief Opel and Vauxhall are back on track, in the hands of more capable management than anyone had expected. On that note, it will be interesting to wait and see which automaker will dominate the European landscape by the end of the decade.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News