that Fritz so strongly supported.

DUN...DUN....DUNNNNNNNN

 

Did they shoot down the Magna bid, the RHJ bid, or both?

I wonder if this means that GM indeed now plans to keep Opel completely in the fold... the way it should be, IMO.

 

I believe Magna...saw they upped it a few days ago...haven't heard much about RHJ lately.

GM planning to keep Opel?

 

Heres a good article on it....

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...ack+to+Germany

 

I'd like to see Opel kept too ... it just seems that so much of GM's car engineering comes from them, I can't imagine what kind of holes in GM's lineup we'd see a few years down the road if that went away.

 

Especially since they seem to be relying on Opel for development and refinement of the Epsilon platform not to mention upscale versions of the Delta. Nothing like potentially hamstringing your operations down the road.

As far as the Magna option goes, I think Stronach's goals are just that, with little concern or regard for GM's interests in matters going forward - just my opinion.

 

Personally, I've had the feeling that GM has no intentions of selling Opel.

 

I think one of GM's issues with Magna, is the concern their Russian patners will plunder Opel's technology and intellectual property. All of that BTW, is owned by GM, regardless of what happens with Opel.

 

Of course that's what Stronach's goals are.

He and his company love to gobble up other companies, strip them of their IP and patents and send the work to 3rd world countries. Once they've taken what they wanted, they leave behind a dead, empty, rotting husk.
They're like locusts.

 

I would imagine that they have to do their due diligence on the matter. It makes more sense to have Fritz bring it to the board and be shot down than have it die without a vote.

 

Agreed, the Russian side of the equation is a bit of a wildcard.... and just because GM would still control its "intellectual property" that doesn't mean that Russian (or Magna's for that matter) spinoffs of said technology wouldn't potentially happen, which would not be in GM's best interests if the Russian market does take off. This is a risk you take when you open up your operations to outside interests whose interests aren't necessarily yours.

Question is, would GM have any recourse - sure you could cry foul, but would that result in any real-world consequences for anyone who benefited from using GM/Opel's intellectual property? Once the product is on the road, it's pretty much over - I would think.

 

Ding, ding, ding! Its not that GM doesn't want to give up Opel; its that GM doesn't want to give up Opel's patents. Especially when Magna would possibly give it away to GM's Russian competitors. (GM still plans to push the Chevrolet and Cadillac brands in Russia, as a minimum.)

 

How many times have the Bids been upped now?

RHJ ups cash in Opel bid

 

A smart CEO NEVER goes to the board unless he knows in advance -- and approves -- of what the answer will be.