chiefpontiac
05-18-2009, 04:20 PM
Opel dealers will raise 500M euros to help carmaker
John Revill ("") Automotive News Europe
May 15, 2009 10:46 CET
UPDATED: 5/15/09 5:00 p.m. CET
MUNICH -- Opel/Vauxhall dealers will meet with the German government and the bidders for the company next week after agreeing to raise 500 million euros ($677 million) to help the ailing automaker.
Representatives from Opel/Vauxhall's 4,000 dealers in Europe voted Friday in Vienna to take a direct equity stake in the automaker, which has been put up for sale by owner General Motors.
Euroda, the European Opel/Vauxhall dealers association, approved a plan that could give it a 10 percent to 20 percent stake in the automaker and a seat on its supervisory board in return for the investment.
The dealer association said it plans to start talks with GM next week as well as with European governments that host its plants.
Euroda wants to raise the 500 million euros by having dealers contribute 150 euros from every car sale over the next three years.
"We will start talks with all potential and possible bidders, the governments and GM on Monday," Euroda Chairman Jaap Timmer told journalists. "We are thinking about a 20 percent stake, it could be more, it could be less."
Timmer said that paying into the fund would be difficult for some dealers. Opel/Vauxhall sales were down 21.8 percent to 352,813 in the first four months of 2009, according to the European auto manufacturers association, ACEA.
It could be worse
"Of course it hurts to pay into a fund, but it will pay dividends. It will be far worse if we have no manufacturer at all," Timmer said on a conference call Friday.
Timmer would not say which group Euroda favored working with, saying it was important to talk to them first.
"We are open to anyone," he said. "The future of Opel is what counts."
The German government is currently speaking to Austrian/Canadian components maker Magna International and Italy's Fiat S.p.A about their plan to take a stake in GM Europe's operations.
German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said Thursday that by May 20 the two investors want to present their proposals to the government.
"We are hoping for a more sustainable concept than has been presented to us so far," Guttenberg added.
Thomas Bieling, one of the two co-chairmen of German Opel dealers' organization VDOH, had voiced scepticism regarding Fiat's interest due in part to strained relations between the Italian carmaker and its German dealers.
Timmer said that GM Europe President Carl-Peter Forster has repeatedly welcomed such a move.
Added Timmer: "Our preference will be clear after we have talked to them. After our talks with the parties, we will go back to the members to get final and binding approval for our plan."
The money raised by the dealers would be in addition to the 3.3 billion euros GM is seeking from European governments to support its European operations.
This kind of investment would give the governments a say in how the automaker is run. Timmer says the dealers would like to have that same right.
"We will be able to speak about issues in the future. That would enhance cooperation," Timmer said. "I am optimistic this plan can work."
Reuters contributed
What's most amazing is not that the Opel dealers will help or that there are 4,000 of them (none being cut by GM since they are selling majority stake) but that this could not even be tried here, not becasue of legal issues but becasue teh American dealers are too independant a lot to cooperate in this fashion.
John Revill ("") Automotive News Europe
May 15, 2009 10:46 CET
UPDATED: 5/15/09 5:00 p.m. CET
MUNICH -- Opel/Vauxhall dealers will meet with the German government and the bidders for the company next week after agreeing to raise 500 million euros ($677 million) to help the ailing automaker.
Representatives from Opel/Vauxhall's 4,000 dealers in Europe voted Friday in Vienna to take a direct equity stake in the automaker, which has been put up for sale by owner General Motors.
Euroda, the European Opel/Vauxhall dealers association, approved a plan that could give it a 10 percent to 20 percent stake in the automaker and a seat on its supervisory board in return for the investment.
The dealer association said it plans to start talks with GM next week as well as with European governments that host its plants.
Euroda wants to raise the 500 million euros by having dealers contribute 150 euros from every car sale over the next three years.
"We will start talks with all potential and possible bidders, the governments and GM on Monday," Euroda Chairman Jaap Timmer told journalists. "We are thinking about a 20 percent stake, it could be more, it could be less."
Timmer said that paying into the fund would be difficult for some dealers. Opel/Vauxhall sales were down 21.8 percent to 352,813 in the first four months of 2009, according to the European auto manufacturers association, ACEA.
It could be worse
"Of course it hurts to pay into a fund, but it will pay dividends. It will be far worse if we have no manufacturer at all," Timmer said on a conference call Friday.
Timmer would not say which group Euroda favored working with, saying it was important to talk to them first.
"We are open to anyone," he said. "The future of Opel is what counts."
The German government is currently speaking to Austrian/Canadian components maker Magna International and Italy's Fiat S.p.A about their plan to take a stake in GM Europe's operations.
German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said Thursday that by May 20 the two investors want to present their proposals to the government.
"We are hoping for a more sustainable concept than has been presented to us so far," Guttenberg added.
Thomas Bieling, one of the two co-chairmen of German Opel dealers' organization VDOH, had voiced scepticism regarding Fiat's interest due in part to strained relations between the Italian carmaker and its German dealers.
Timmer said that GM Europe President Carl-Peter Forster has repeatedly welcomed such a move.
Added Timmer: "Our preference will be clear after we have talked to them. After our talks with the parties, we will go back to the members to get final and binding approval for our plan."
The money raised by the dealers would be in addition to the 3.3 billion euros GM is seeking from European governments to support its European operations.
This kind of investment would give the governments a say in how the automaker is run. Timmer says the dealers would like to have that same right.
"We will be able to speak about issues in the future. That would enhance cooperation," Timmer said. "I am optimistic this plan can work."
Reuters contributed
What's most amazing is not that the Opel dealers will help or that there are 4,000 of them (none being cut by GM since they are selling majority stake) but that this could not even be tried here, not becasue of legal issues but becasue teh American dealers are too independant a lot to cooperate in this fashion.