After a winter of discontent and a summer of negotiations, it seems General Motors have decided no to flog off Vauxhall and Opel to Magna.
Well that’s some change of mind after months of negotiations, but GM put it down to a change in the financial climate, as the business sector is recovering rapidly, giving hope that the worst of the worst is over.
Clearly, some restructuring of the business will take place, let’s face it, it’s a good excuse if nothing else, to push unpalatable things through as a trade off to the stability that remaining within General Motors will bring to both Vauxhall and Opel.
Lets hope the UK isn’t too badly effected by what’s going to be a difficult process, for what ever way you cut it, the motor trade in Europe is still pretty weak and its going to be some time before we get back to the levels of just a few years ago.
However, had the Magna deal gone through, using the support of the German government, it would have only been logical to believe that it would be the German side of things that were going to be less affected by the take over, with British plants getting the short straw.
The Industry Secretary, Peter Mandelson has had meetings with GM since the announcement and gained certain assurances as to the future, but sometimes, you can find yourselves building a bridge, when there isn’t even a river, so you have to ask if this is all a too serious a business to be left to politicians!
Anyway, watch this space, as unpredictable things seem to happen as far as GM is concerned and who knows, you might just pick the paper up tomorrow to find that you’ve bought Vauxhall yourself!
