NEWS

GERMAN newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has seen leaked documents, detailing Vauxhall job cuts. According to the paper, 30 percent of Vauxhall’s two-plant UK workforce is to be cut. This equates to around 1400 jobs – with the biggest cuts to occur at the firm’s Luton van-making plant. Overall, new owners Magna are going to cut [...]

GM has now officially announced its board has agreed to sell a 55% stake in Vauxhall to Magna. The board of directors ‘supports a bid from the consortium of Magna International Inc and Sberbank to buy a majority stake in its European Opel/Vauxhall operations.’ Binding agreements, however, won’t be concluded for another few weeks. Items [...]

CAR buyers will help determine the future of Vauxhall’s UK plants, says union leader Tony Woodley. The Vauxhall brand, he says, is a huge part of GM Europe. Sales here are significant. ‘Magna needs to realise that any attempt to close plants will have an adverse market reaction,’ said the Unite chief. Any plant closures [...]

BUSINESS minister Pat McFadden says Magna has told him it sees a future for both UK Vauxhall plants. The minister said Vauxhall’s new owners Magna had personally pledged to Government that both factories are in its future plans. ‘We now have to hold them to that – make those assurances stick,’ said the minister. For [...]

VAUXHALL owner GM Europe has finally been sold to the Canadian group Magna, it has been announced. German Chancellor Angela Merkel made the announcement, ahead of an Opel Trust statement detailing the specifics. Some say it is the worst case scenario for Vauxhall. The Magna deal guarantees jobs in Germany – but leaves 10,000 jobs [...]

FIAT may be about to RENEW its bid to take over General Motors’ Vauxhall and Opel divisions, come reports. Italian newspaper La Repubblica reckons that, such are the issues with the bids from Magna and RHJ, GM may well reconsider a new approach from Fiat. The two have already worked closely together in the past, [...]

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel has accused GM of a ‘conflict of interest’ over the sale of its European division. The parent company of Vauxhall cannot decide between one of two bids for the European operations – either Canada’s Magna, or Belgium’s RHJ. Merkel told German TV the conflict of interest was due to Magna’s offer [...]

GM Group vice president John Smith has taken the unusual step of speaking out on the sale of Vauxhall. Following what he describes as ‘misleading’ coverage regarding the sale of GM Europe, Smith has clarified proceedings to date: •    Best and final offers received on July 28 •    Input from German and other European Governments, [...]

VAUXHALL could go bankrupt if a buyer isn’t found for General Motors’ European division, come reports from the weekend. Bloomberg says the Opel trust negotiating the sale does not now want the company to be sold to Canada’s Magna. This is despite the firm previously appearing to be the preferred new owner. Issues are said [...]

LORD Mandelson is certainly working hard for the automotive industry in the UK. Last week he was at Toyota, following an announcement the maker is to build the first European-made hybrids there. Then, it was off to Nissan Sunderland, after confirmation it will begin building electric car batteries there (a move many see as a [...]

VAUXHALL owner General Motors has received THREE final offers for its European car business. They come from RHJ International, Beijing Automotive Industries and Magna International. But hadn’t Magna already won the deal? Seems not. Despite an announcement back in May, that Magna had triumphed, the deal is now less of a dead cert. That’s despite [...]

VAUXHALL workers are staging a demonstration to Parliament, due to concerns over the sale of GM Europe. The protest is to be staged in Parliament Square THIS MORNING. Workers from both factories will join the run, in a range of Vauxhalls old and new. Trades union Unite is organising the campaign, due to the threat [...]

VAUXHALL representatives are holding a series of meetings with Lord Mandelson all this week. The meetings are being conducted to discuss the future of Vauxhall, given the takeover of GM Europe by Magna International. Local MPs and senior trade representatives are among those putting the case for car dealers to the business secretary. Lord Mandelson [...]

CAR Dealer Magazine was invited to speak LIVE on BBC News, this weekend, in a slot with anchorman Peter Sissons! With the Magna-Vauxhall-GME deal making overnight headlines, they wanted some industry comment. That’s why, afterwards, Car Dealer Magazine editor James called me. On Friday, I’d been covering the emerging deal for the website, so was [...]

VAUXHALL’S future has reportedly been secured, as a deal was reached to save parent firm GM Europe. Canadian parts giant Magna will buy GM Europe, owners of Vauxhall and Opel, from pressured US parent GM Germany’s government will provide loans of £1.3 billion, and Magna will invest over £430 million. The car parts maker is [...]

MAGNA International has agreed in principal to buy GM Europe – owners of Opel and Vauxhall. The deal still needs to be agreed with the German Government, reports the breaking news on the BBC. But, word is that the Canadian automotive industry giant has finally reached an agreement with General Motors. The BBC reports more [...]