Opel 'should consider insolvency'

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

German carmaker Opel should consider entering insolvency, the country's interior minister has said.

Modern insolvency law was "not set up for the destruction but for the preservation of economic assets", said Wolfgang Schaeuble.

His comments came as executives from Opel's parent firm General Motors (GM) prepared to meet German government to discuss possible state-aid.

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Media reports suggest that the German government is angry that the bail-out proposal - which asked for 3.3bn euros (£2.93bn; $4.16bn) - was simply a glossy 217-page brochure which read like an advertisement, rather than presenting any viable business plan.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7927924.stm

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Better than thowing money into what looks at present like a bottomless pit and this way the Germanas will at least have control of the situation. It may even turn out that Opel and Vauxhall in the UK become one new European company devoid of the antics of the original parent.

[Demeter]

1. Sounds Like an Offer They Can't Refuse

which is more than anybody else is offering, I might add.

[Prometheus Bound]

2. Good Lord, they sound like a hopeless company.

From the OP:
Media reports suggest that the German government was angry that the bail-out proposal - which asked for 3.3bn euros (£2.93bn; $4.16bn) - was simply a glossy 217-page brochure which read like an advertisement, rather than presenting any viable business plan.

Finance minister Peer Steinbrueck said the plan was "no basis" for the government to make a decision on whether to grant state aid.

[Alcibiades]

4. They are a good company

They make a well-engineered product and have been responsible for much of the innovation in GM's product line. There is overcapacity in the European auto market, and they've been impacted by the global economic crisis. Of course, they have been losing money for some time, but they are not the only automaker in that boat.

It would be interesting if Opel and Saturn could merge into one brand somehow.

http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13234991&fsrc=rss

[Prometheus Bound]

5. No, I mean submitting a brochure instead of a business plan.

Their engineering department might be first rate, but their senior management sound hopeless. You wonder how these people made it up the ladder in the business world.

[Alcibiades]

6. It's a GM subsidiary, right?

All kidding aside, I have little faith in those folks who made it up the ladder in the business world. We'd be better off firing the entire executive class and replacing them with middle management.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Opel and Saturn

My mom's Saturn has an Opel engine. I had a 1968 Opel Rallye Kadett. That was a fun little car. Those were better times.

[amandabeech]

8. My first car was a standard '68 Kadett.

I had a lot of fun in that car.

My second was a '74 Manta. Now THAT was some car. Nobody could beat that 3rd gear. I used to love revving it at an intersection and beating some guy in a Monte Carlo or something off the light.

Ah, those were the days.

[grannie4peace]

3. when i was first married we had a little opal. it cost us $60.

it was a good little car .it got too expensive when a neighbors toddler stuck a screwdriver through the radiator. we sold it for $60. fond memories....

[JerseygirlCT]

9. I had no idea they were still around

My dad had one years and years ago. He loved that little thing.