Reilly, the man who had the difficult task of heading Opel right after GM made a mockery of the German government, will continue to play an important role in the future of Opel. He will stay with the car maker as president of GM Europe and chairman of Opel’s Supervisory Board, where he will be replacing Walter Borst (Borst has been demoted to the simple role of board member).
“Opel has laid the foundations for a successful future and I feel honored by the decision of the Supervisory Board,” said the new chief executive. “I am confident that together we will be able to bring forward many initiatives for the benefit of our customers.”
Having the hard work already done by Reilly (the negotiations with the unions, the approval of the cost-cutting measures and the approval of the investment plan which aims at making Opel a global player), Stracke will have to supervise the operations, including new car launches, of both Opel and Vauxhall at a global level.
Stracke takes over just as Opel announced it has managed to increase European market share to 6.9 percent in the first quarter, selling a 24,712 vehicles more vehicles in the first three months of the year compared to the same period of 2010.
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