About a year after GM decided to keep the German car maker under its umbrella (despite having tried, for several long months, to get rid of it, igniting in the process several diplomatic skirmishes between the US, Germany and Russia), Opel announced this week it had become a stock corporation.
“This is an excellent start to the new year for Opel and a further step in implementing our plan for the future, with which we will steer the company back into the black,” said Opel CEO Nick Reilly.
“The AG is the appropriate legal form for a major industrial player the size of Opel with more than 40,000 employees in Europe. It firmly establishes a level playing field vis-à-vis major automotive competitors and further elevates standards of corporate governance and management accountability. The same principles of corporate governance were also introduced at New GM.”
Opel announced the plan to become a stock corporation back in November 2010, saying it is if not the only, then the best way to make the restructuring process count for something. Now listed in Commercial Registry Darmstadt, the company will retain the current management structure, with Nick Reilly serving as CEO of Opel/Vauxhall and chairman of the management board.
“The transformation into an AG signals a new start for the company. It was also one of the basic prerequisites for employees to agree to the restructuring program," added Klaus Franz, head of the Works Council.
"In conjunction with our return to an AG employees will have more opportunities to contribute particularly in terms of product and investment planning on the Supervisory Board level. In addition, the legal form of an AG guarantees a high degree of transparency.”
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