GMs decision of not selling the company has after all, created a lot of tensions most especially to one of its divisions, Opel. It has angered many of Opel’s workers and the European government as well. Armin Schild, the leader of union and Opel board member blasted the company for mismanagement.
Furthermore, he added that by not selling it, it would possess a huge danger and threat to the Opel Brand. GM will still be pursuing those same company policies that have already led to the firm’s declination in the last 20 years – not many changes, pressure on employees, and the government but in a more intense manner.
Although they could always ask for support from the government that promised the same to Magna, analysts sees that it actually does not contain what one would have wanted to expect. Sure, they could always come up with a restructuring plan that can only be good on the papers.
When it happens, GM is speaking of 10,000 jobs that will be eliminated. In contrast, Magna spoke with a similar number but only, it avoided factory closures and layoffs, as job elimination can also be achieved by not replacing workers who retire from the company. Magna’s strategy foresaw spreading the job losses among all Opel facilities.
The fault doesn’t lie in the management of GM but the last 20 years have shown they were putting so much focus to profits than the number of vehicles sold. And as such, they have paid less attention to developing innovative, more competitive products. This was evident in Opel, they never fully took advantage of the know-how of their engineers nor did they use the brand’s full potential. Instead, the focus of saving so much money ruined the brand and created so much negative impact.
Overall, some at GM were surely aware that collaborating business with Magna represented an excellent opportunity. But it’s not for nothing that the entire workforce and the governments of a number of European countries are angry with them.