Why General Motors Left Europe

In 2017, General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker, with brands like Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick made one of its boldest moves in its history. It sold its European Opel and Vauxhall brand to the French automaker PSA, known for brands such as Peugeot and Citroen. It was the end of an era for GM, which had first ventured into Europe nearly 90 years before.
GM left Europe after 20 years of losses, but why did the largest U.S. automaker leave such a big market? Did it simply fail?
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Why General Motors Left Europe

[@CNBC]

Why do you think GM failed in Europe?

[@phone920]

Their cars are junk.

[@codbros1356]

CNBC 2nd boiii

[@GOLEG11]

They intentionally like to introduce new technology before it gets a revision, which leads to failure, persistent Failure:.. One can say that they intentionally like to fail

[@pyrophobia133]

Toyota and Honda are trashing them

[@julemandenudengaver4580]

to expensive for what you got...

[@deeya]

"Why General Motors Left Europe" "Why GM Failed in India" "Why Ford And Other American Cars Don’t Sell In Japan" There's a pattern here...

[@tanbirnr2389]

But Tesla is growing

[@ieditedmyname289]

Tanbir NR Not in Europe as such! The VW ID3 can easily change the dynamic while Tesla sales are struggling in Germany and Nordic countries; especially with the lacklustre quality of the Model Y. However sales are brilliant in USA and relatively good in UK and France

[@tanbirnr2389]

@@ieditedmyname289 yeah,how Germans can let him in'They are best in the Europe 'No in the World I think or Japan maybe'

[@jhon__1940]

They are trying make America look bad

[@eoincm]

Right next to this is the rise of Toyota 😂

[@sergiusta]

Toyota and Mazda aren't europeans and they have great succes, because they are building really good cars.

[@dinohermann1887]

Kia and Hyundai too! They used to make garbage cars, but now they're amazing!

[@W00DMAST3R]

And Toyota actually has a factory in Cologne. They also produce cars specifically for the European market. American companies on the other side now hardly produce in Europe, while European car manufacturers produce on a large scale in the US and in North America as a whole. In fact BMW has its biggest factory in the US and is exporting cars to Europe. That would be unseen for an American company. Thus Trump shouldn't complain about so many BMWs in America. If GM would have better acquired to the European market with more luxurios SUVs (and I don't mean these gigantic Chevrolet SUVs) they would have succeeded. In the 70s, when OPEL was very successful they actually had a high class limousine called Kapitän, but then they made lots of bad decisions and here we are!

[@PaulHojda]

@Johnny Morphine Subaru is not doing great in Europe. They are very small compared to the other Japanese car makers. Out of all Japanese car makers, Nissan is selling the most in Europe, followed by Toyota, then Mazda, Suzuki, Honda and Mitsubishi, and at the very least Subaru.

[@minimal-maximal4616]

@@W00DMAST3R Toyota does not have a factory in Cologne. Ford does. I live in Cologne.

[@frisbee544]

Well, at least Toyota does. But, if Toyota hires Mary Barra - well, there goes Japan's economy.

[@Max_-zt5bm]

Just one year after being bought by PSA, Opel achieved an operating income of 859 € million, the first positive income since 20 years... GM governance was just a big joke... Saab still remembers it.

[@Syncopia]

The numbers really tell the whole story

[@pilot39938]

May it be just a big bath accounting example?

[@Hello-qd3uy]

So does Pontiac and Holden. GM is a joke

[@rileysmith9843]

If they bought Chrysler from Daimler in 2007, they would have just spun it off to Fiat or Daimler anyway.

[@c.n.crowther438]

I'll never forgive GM for what they did to Saab..

[@LtKharn]

5:20 The big three German manufacturers dominate the EU market? No wonder Americans can't sale cars in the EU, even the expert doesn't seem to be aware the top 3 are VW group, PSA and RENAULT. Not VW, BMW and Mercedes.

[@Pectopah123]

Americans just doesn't understand the market. They obviously believe that Europe is a country.

[@btrading4996]

@@Pectopah123 like most of europe thinks that africa is a country

[@Pectopah123]

@@btrading4996sorry you misspelled USA.

[@nitrous390]

@@Pectopah123 HAHAHA so true.......

[@mervynstent1578]

Ford did well in Europe for decades!

[@Dampachi100]

It's because GM (and by extension, other US automakers) doesn't understand the needs of the rest of the world. This is the same case in Japan. Quality and brand perception aside, US automakers can't seem to understand why their huge cars/SUV/trucks are not desired in countries where two-way roads are as wide as single lanes in the US. They are basically out of touch.

[@Luredreier]

Pretty much. Too few Americans travel and see how the rest of the world works, or study abroad.

[@supremesoldier354]

@@Luredreieryeah because individual americans perspective on the world matters compared to a multi billion dollar company with a massive sales department...

[@jesusborja7859]

you know japanese made cars like the accord dont even sell well in other countries

[@dustywaxhead]

They sold opel and vauxhallcin europe not pickups. Did you see the sane video as I did?

[@paper_pirate]

the GMC trucks are pretty nice. Other than that, garbage.

[@mowana1232]

Should have left Opel and Saab do it's own thing. Twenty-five years ago these companies were on par with the other European manufacturers, then GM sent their managers in and the rest is history.

[@sudhajurg]

Exactly, Mowana123, the commentator of this CNBC video is as clueless in his report as the US Managers who want to impose their obsolete marketing & technical comprehensions onto other cultures. Selling a car in Europe, and I assume most of the rest of the world, has a technical information slant; the car is an "it". In america the car models change constantly - now we produce Oldsmobile, next year we don't - cars must look futuristic but the technology is same old. A Chevy engine could be found in a Buick and Oldsmobile, just the car body changed for a lot more $. Or make it look macho, but under the hood it's just a sedan. US cars are for the US population where make believe and 'Dreams come through must be addressed, not comparative technical facts - that would be oh so boring. Look at the attitude, a car in the US is a "she' not an 'it' which tells you about the psychological difference of the clientele.

[@rileysmith9843]

Same thing happened with Daewoo. Daewoo is dead.

[@warrenpuckett4203]

Compare the Opel Antara and the Chevy Trax. The Trax is assembled in Korea by Deawoo with a motor made in USA, transmission made in Japan. GM's problem is it does not listen to customers and does not realize its Union Workers are also car customers.

[@MsPaintMr]

You do realise GM has owned Opel since the 30s right?

[@rafapenson]

Saab and daewoo had flopped before gm purchased it

[@allanflores2348]

Jeremy Clarkson: "Because it's American. All American cars are rubbish."

[@user-rr7ov9dz1i]

Allan Flores bcuz it’s true

[@Kazu19]

Thats a bit harsh.

[@yogadgsix]

American cars are poor design

[@tapasvilingesh]

Things started to go south in the 2000s. Before that they were considerably alright but anyone would go for a VW over a Chevy and people go for the german trio over a Cadillac anyday. I think the top management should really assess where they’re going wrong in markets where the potential is massive

[@octopuss1918]

What about tesla. I rest my case.

[@stylrart]

Why Europeans don't buy American cars? Simple answer: Europeans build better and more fuel-efficient cars. Fuel is way more expensive in Europe than in America, so that's the two reasons.

[@seed_drill7135]

Opel wasn't an "American" car, and it was just as thrifty as it's natively owned counterparts. But, in my limited experience driving one as a rental, they were cheap and unrefined when compared to the competition. If you are building the bottom end of the market you are always going to face competition from the used market.

[@davidfreeman3083]

The first reason isn't really true. Especially for the 'better' part. Then why GM (ford as well) aren't failing that much in the US? Look at the numbers mentioned. The truth is there IS a huge difference between US and European market, from regulatory (literally two different systems, US pretty much developed its own set of regulations, which isn't just stricter or more lenient, it's just COMPLETELY different. It's as if under US and European definitions automobile are two different stuff), to consumer tastes, which brings down to cultural and social-economic differences.

[@_michko_]

David Freeman cus americans are used to drive junk cars and eat junky food

[@villasantamaria1]

European cars are not as reliable as japanese or american or korean cars, not even close.

[@norwegianblue2017]

@@villasantamaria1 Everyone I have known in the last 10 years that bought a European car regretted it and swore they never would buy one again.

[@GrijzePilion]

Same story as always: if you want to sell cars in Europe, make cars that are as good as Europe's.

[@YesIAmThatCoolBitch]

better ones they would need to make even I believe.

[@Luredreier]

@@YesIAmThatCoolBitch Yeah, pretty much. They don't have a good reputation here and would have to restore that before equal products at equal prices would have a fighting chance at selling decently.

[@bassemheni]

Amen

[@supremesoldier354]

My 95k 10 year old ford drives and works just fine and the most i put on it was 2 grand over 4 years

[@donaldgrant9067]

Like Fiat?

[@WBO-lp3cp]

Opel was doing OK, till the US managers decided to go help them in 1990... The rest is history.

[@krashd]

Just as Saab were doing fine under GM rule until GM sent advisors from the US to help them and Saab vanished down the drain. Ford is one of the biggest makers in Europe and that is because it is run by Europeans and not micromanaged by Ford US. You can't expect a boardroom in Detroit to know what to build for the streets of Paris...

[@gorkyd7912]

@@krashd You can't expect a boardroom in Detroit to know what to build for anywhere, apparently.

[@tedchurch2476]

I have a 1997 Opel Calibra now that is a real nice car. Handles good, smooth, lots of power, economical and very nicely put together. Not sure what you are on about. They build a nice car as they build the new Holden Commodore for our market in New Zealand and that's a nice car too.

[@kerstas10]

@@tedchurch2476 uu Calibra, we call those "poor mans ferrari" in my country. Sadly there are no for sale at the moment, they all vanished, rusted away.

[@tedchurch2476]

Ok kerstas thanks for that. Yea well I love the car and it is immaculate. I have a guy from Germany who wants to take It from New Zealand to his place as he said they are quite hard to find now. This has only done 130000k's and its a twin cam with leather and un modified. Drives great too.

[@hannecatton2179]

Unfortunately the cars built by U.S. owned companies are poorly built. That is not being anti U.S. but simply stating fact.

[@sirmartinfrobisher]

Hanne Catton I remember back in the 70s, journalists asking BMC managers why they did not actively update their most popular models.Their reply? "We can sell all we build, yup, square steering wheels were a world winner? Where are they now?

[@markcross6864]

There’s nothing wrong with euro built fords. Ford balled up when they made their cars “one ford” instead of tailoring them for Europe like the original fiesta, focus mk 1-3 and original mondeos. The current bloated “one ford” mondeo/fusion is no where near as good as the previous model.

[@jokerandthethief3719]

FORD is alright tho. GM and Chrysler on the other hand....

[@fuckheinschitt239]

Not True. American cars are much reliable than European cars

[@johnreese3762]

Amen!

[@peace8373]

I have watched US Corporations think they can take the US model transplant to another country and win. When business does not cater to local needs they fail.

[@certifiedpeedealer4933]

Chevrolet seemed decent enough in Europe when it was around, but aside from some models (Trax and Spark to name a few) none of them really understood the market well. A separate design team is needed for new markets.

[@PKMNFan4664]

@@certifiedpeedealer4933 To me, one of the weirdest models Chevy sold (I'm an American myself and never been to Europe, just saying this based on pictures I've seen) in Europe would be the Chevrolet Alero. It looks like they just took the Oldsmobile Alero and cheaply tacked on a Chevy badge onto it.

[@sicknastydabdab2711]

Like WalMart.

[@claudeyaz]

Also...uneven trade treaties.

[@user_uif_ghg_wer_das]

30 years ago Opel and Audi produced cars of the same level in Germany, namely, the entry premium level cars, which were at the second tier ( 1st Mercedes, BMW, 2nd Audi, Opel, 3rd Volkswagen, Ford). Fastforward 30 years, Audi is a major premium/luxury brand in the world, while Opel is competing with Chevys thanks to GM's management.

[@zaphodsbluecar9518]

I remember years ago that people bought Audi for on of two reasons: 1/ They didn't want to buy a 'Butcher's car (Opel), or 2/ They couldn't afford a BMW :-)

[@frankw3217]

Just like Cadillac is becoming more European, with model names, styling, etc.

[@lifeinrussia1991]

GM destroyed Saab in exactly the same way!!!

[@frankw3217]

The Opel's that were made and imported to the USA were very far from being a luxury vehicle. Volkswagen is meant to to be a affordable vehicle anyone could afford going back before World War 2 which Dr Porsche was told to design a vehicle to be " The People's Car".

[@mfitzy100]

That’s true- the older Omega and Records were built like tanks - the GM bean counters went in and destroyed that engineering tradition

[@a5cent]

Yeah, this is mostly BS excuses. Opel was originally a German brand, so their products were, after their takeover, first perceived as German cars. What actually went wrong? This: GM would regularly rotate in and out "hot shot" managers at the top of Opel Europe. Their job performance was rated based on their ability to reduce costs. One manager would reduce costs by, say, 3%, then be replaced by the next manager who was incentivised to do the same. Obviously, after enough rotations, Opel was purely focused on making cheap cars rather than good cars. Nothing GM released in Europe could qualitatively compete with the other European automakers. The Opel brand became associated with faulty, unreliable and cheap. That was the end of Opel profitability in Europe.

[@TheMustangForce]

i own a corsa from 2009, so far so good car. but people tend to say to me like you say, that opel is a rusty brick with faulty engine. engine is good so far but the rust is starting to show.

[@a5cent]

@@TheMustangForce To be fair, the collapse of Opel's brand happened much earlier than 2009. I haven't been keeping up with Opel since long before then, so things might have changed.

[@megawutt]

Spot on. The bad image of Opel acquired especially during the tenure of that Spanish guy Lopez with his cost reducing programs will endure for a long time.

[@micumatrix]

I heard the same story in a Opel plant in Bochum. Most managers were barely a year and just went there to grow some hair on the balls and show that they can cut costs. Then were promoted somewhere else. After that they had to repair the damage done by going back, the way it has been, for lot more money than the manager saved. So company lost money and also with the lower quality customers.

[@ZakHooiTM]

Correct and some departments didnt see any investments that where needed to make them work effeciently. And what also was a contributor was that GM was sucking GME (Opel) dry by using them as R&D devision to come up with platforms that then where restandardized under GMW.

[@infin1023]

Instead of paying big money to CEO, and management, spend those money on R&D, and quality control, then people may start to buy American car again.

[@grizzlygrizzle]

I imagine that it would be difficult to attract competent managers to a junk behemoth like GM. Same for good engineers. Corrupt unions don't help. Why would anyone who takes pride in their work ever want to go to GM?

[@Syncopia]

They can't even keep Cadillac afloat in their home territory.

[@DanRyzESPUK]

@@grizzlygrizzle You pay fairly to the real producers, the engineers and manufactures, aka the ones in the unions. Screw the CEOs, they´re blood suckers. VW and Toyota have stronger unions than all american brands and look at where they are.

[@twithrow2261]

Over layoffs

[@thewanderingrey8830]

"How hard it is to be global automobile brand" - well most Japanese and German brands made it, so it's probably just American incompetence.

[@nicholassaville1933]

Ford

[@PKMNFan4664]

Even the Koreans are doing it now. It won't be long before the Chinese do the same.

[@1lyxbollyvykn714]

@@PKMNFan4664 the chinese cars sell well in developing countries like mine and japanese too.

[@nicholassaville1933]

@Maximilian Stocker it's an American brand manufactured in Germany. Don't get ahead of yourself

[@specialopsdave]

@Maximilian Stocker That's like calling Mercedes an American company because they manufacture their US-Sold Sprinter vans in the USA, it's a stupid argument.

[@MrTVintro]

'3:35 If your big idea as an automaker is to sell trucks and suv's to Europeans you may as well give up before you start.

[@2011metalmaniac]

i had to repeat what he said because i couldnt beleive what i was hearing.

[@tmanepic]

Even Europeans seem to like these stupid subcompact SUV's nowadays

[@stijnhs]

@Ad Lockhorst No, there is no market for what Americans define as SUVs. The major market in Europe are Crossovers (Kia Sportage, VW Tiguan, Nissan Qashqai, etc.) In the US however, SUVs are normally massive 7/8 seater, 2500kg things with enormously uneconomical engines inside (Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Suburban, etc.)

[@stijnhs]

@Ad Lockhorst indeed, what is interesting to me though is how Asian manufactures like Nissan and Kia totally understand the European market, but why the Americans just can't seem to grasp the idea that people elsewhere have different wants and needs...

[@fgsaramago]

@Ad Lockhorst there's no such thing as "soccer moms" I'm Europe. Or soccer for that matter

[@raileon]

When Trump was angry that we Europeans don't buy as many US cars as Americans are buying European cars, the German vice chancellor and economy minister simply replied "then you have to build better cars". And to be honest.... I think he was right^^

[@NJ-wb1cz]

To be fair, German cars in US are endless money pits.

[@mikojarvinen6273]

Well I live in Europe and I would like to see more American cars in Europe. Especially new Cadillac's and Chevy's.

[@stefanozurich]

Miko Järvinen I somehow don’t think you will thanks to the 2020 emission regulations and the astronomical fines that go with exceeding them. That’s unless chevys volt starts selling like mad.

[@mikojarvinen6273]

@@stefanozurich FCA is bringing a lot of plug-in-hybrids to the European market atm such as Jeep Wrangler plug-in and there's electric Cadillac's and Chevy's coming.

[@mikojarvinen6273]

@@stefanozurich Also Tesla is doing great in Europe with the model 3 and I can't wait to see the new Ford Explorer Plug-in-hybrid

[@mannyzx1]

Engineer: let’s make an improvement on our vehicles, make them better and keep improving them little by little. We will sell a better vehicle and slowly turn our image and sales around. Like Hyundai and Kia. MBA: Nah, let’s sell it off, show a quarterly profit, keep Wall Street happy. We’ll worry about our next bonus after we get cash this bonus.

[@carl_marks1626]

GM also butchered Saab. A fantastic car and proudly Swedish till GM closed it down.

[@user-hc9qv9yb9m]

Which never made money

[@DanielleMoren]

Technically it still lives as nevs, and hopefully, they'll start producing the 9-5 again as a electric car!

[@glennoropeza3545]

Saab couldn't make the sales numbers against its other Swedish rival Volvo. GM kept the ailing company going but nobody offered to buy it! The Swedish government even turned down the offer to buy Saab from GM for 10 cents on the dollar! So with no buyers GM simply Closed down Saab!

[@user-hc9qv9yb9m]

@@glennoropeza3545 Spyker wanted Saab

[@EngelinZivilBO]

@@user-hc9qv9yb9m maybe, but the quality was on top! I had once an accident with my Saab Aero with 75mph and my car was still perfect! The other car in the other hand... Not so perfect anymore :D

[@MrWhiteVzla]

And yet, European manufactures do well in America. It's almost as if quality and design matters to car buyers

[@DareToSavorVanillaWithBacon]

don't they mostly buy fords, chevys and dodges, followed by asian brands?

[@NJ-wb1cz]

@@DareToSavorVanillaWithBacon majority of top 20 best selling cars in US are Japanese, even though top 3 are American pick up trucks.

[@edwardsr70]

😂😂😂 Mercedes and BMW have the worst reliability rating in the USA.

[@paulwilliams2024]

MrWhiteVzla and European Cars are money pits in the US . Japanese Cars are the most reliable

[@quickquestion22]

Ryan Edwards because they are assembled in the us and you are correct especially Mercedes is currently lowering their quality

[@chele089]

If GM would have let Opel do it's thing like Ford lets Ford of Europe do their thing, none of this would've needed to happen.

[@donovanjones4175]

Michi Scholl good point, Saab never listened to GM until they were forced to. They were soon out of business when they did.

[@Marco-wz3ff]

Ford Europe makes great cars. I love the Focus!

[@mullerstephan]

Also Ford was the only one of the big three who didn’t need a bailout in the recession

[@williamg209two]

Opel does do it's own thing in the UK, it's even under a different name, Vauxhall

[@alfonso5b]

@@williamg209two It doesn`t. It just sell what Opel offers in Europe, who has to make cars that can be adapted to US regulation for Buick and Australia for Holden.

[@capang9555]

I will still never forgive GM for killing Saab. They killed my favorite car brand.

[@rogerwilco2]

Yes.

[@Spido68_the_spectator]

They are evil >:(

[@grizzlygrizzle]

@@Spido68_the_spectator -- More stupid than evil. Morally, I think it's more accurate to describe their management as obtuse.

[@bestamerica]

hi C... ' who is a word - THEY -

[@HaloFTW55]

I thought Saab only dabbled in Defense, must be my ignorance then. Well, you learn something new every day.

[@cmajaa1]

The Walmart of car companies.

[@ainahko16]

Does that mean scantly clad (possibly on meth) customers walking around the showroom doing Florida man like antics?

[@Mira_linn]

Wtf how can you blame unions when every carmaker in Europe have to deal with the unions especially the German automakers and all European car makers have to deal with the same laws and regulations. Maybe the problem is that us companies are bad at cooperating with the unions and rather wanna fight with them.

[@inkbold8511]

The Guy too bad they didn’t blame misogyny men like you.

[@MalawisLilleKanal]

And if you make good engines, they'll pass the regulations in both the EU and US.

[@kaibaCorpHQ]

They're selling out the workers in America aswell by getting ready to assemble everything in China. GM isn't an American brand anymore if you ask me, the only one left is Ford.

[@G-Mastah-Fash]

German car makers pay their employees incredibly good wages. My uncle started working on the assembly line in the 80's then got promoted to be an office worker. He makes enough to own and maintain 7 cars.

[@steffenahlemller4005]

@@kaibaCorpHQ And Tesla? ;)

[@THEFIRE360]

All I can think when watching this video is: excuses, excuses, excuses. Like we make cars but consumers dont like them. How about making cars that consumers do want?

[@archsimpson4511]

That was the reason I ceased to purchase American cars. I am a convertible lover. I have owned several and when in 1976 all of the American automobile companies stopped making them, I went over to European cars and haven't come back to US ones. That was a long time ago but the US companies didn't understand what purchasers wanted then and they still don't.

[@s._3560]

They are a blame culture, led by their country’s leader. They don’t examine their own mistakes. Always blame others for their lousy performance.

[@stijnhs]

Exactly, you're absolutely right, if they just open their eyes and ears they would hear that people don't want to spend much money on fuel (fuel is much more expensive in Europe than it is in the US) therefore smaller, more economical engines are required. Small engines generally aren't powerful enough for big cars (otherwise known as American cars)... Besides, Europe has a lot of very old cities with narrow roads and tight corners, again not an ideal environment to place your trucks and huge SUVs in. Ooh, and if Europeans can afford a more upscale car, we don't want the interior to be made out of ugly hard plastics!!!

[@rephaelreyes8552]

Yeah why not make reliable and long lasting cars with cheap parts like what Toyota has been doing?

[@davidbeppler3032]

Same reason Tesla is destroying them in the US. Better cars at a much better price.

[@souissi1]

Before leaving Europe they destroyed SAAB the Swedish brand !!!!

[@cocotaveras8975]

Saab wasnt bad actually, so I kind of miss it :(

[@rzpogi]

I wish SAAB Automotive returned to their original parent company. Their original parent company, SAAB AB, produces military equipment and vehicles such as jets, subs, and missiles.

[@batmanlives6456]

They screwed Holden in Australia too And ripped off the tax payers

[@welcome33333]

"GM launched Chevrolet in Europe" big NO! They imported asian Daewoo cars and put a Chevrolet badge on them. That did not make them Chevrolets. It was just another impersonal car.

[@Sarcastix7]

5:13 Ford isn't pulling out of Europe. They're streamlining their operation and focusing on their best sellers and dropping the cars people don't buy. The focus and the fiesta are fantastic cars and sell millions. A smart move by Ford. Put all their effort into their best sellers to make them even better.

[@JamesPhieffer]

That statement really hurt the credibility of the "expert" when it comes to why GM failed. He tried to paint it as a problem with North American automakers, but this was a GM problem.

[@minimumtrade]

Ford fiesta is on an orphan platform. Tic toc.

[@RoyCousins]

@@minimumtrade The US version is. The European version has a new platform that will not be produced in Brazil (for US).

[@flopunkt3665]

@@seidelbaum Ford/USA and Ford/Europe are officially considered two different brands in Europe. And here in Germany most people actually differentiate between them. You can get a Ford Focus or Fiesta that was engineered in Cologne, Germany and then assembled in Cologne or Saarlouis (both Germany) or in Almussafes, Spain. So most Germans wouldn't even consider Ford a foreign car, just the brand is foreign. GM used to do the same with their Opel and Vauxhall brands. The difference is that Ford launched its "one Ford strategy" in the late 2000s, thus selling European engineered cars like the Fiesta and the Focus in other markets, including China and North America. That helped cutting costs and increased their efficiency. GM however didn't do away with that inefficient double structure, instead they decided to keep up their different portfolios for each specific market, and that combined with the fact of having many smaller unknown or unpopular brands and not just one major one like Ford, that alone meant they had to spend way more on advertising each of those brands. All those double and triple structures caused so much higher costs for GM in total, not just because of the additional engineering done for every single market, but also for storage and purchase of parts, and for administration. The lady in the interview pointed that out, that only 20% of the parts of an Opel/Vauxhall car were identical with their non-European cars. Ford has mostly resolved this issue about a decade ago already.

[@V8_screw_electric_cars]

they sell mustangs in europe very good move affordable muscle, chevy tried sell camaro's but it was half assed and they're not as good as mustangs

[@Gemarica]

So they sold their business to PSA in France. A country where the unions are as strong as it gets…. and guess… all those GM managers claiming that you cannot build cars in North America, Australia or Europe because it is too expensive fell flat on their face. In the first 6 months after the take over the former GM brands made half a billion Euro for PSA. So what game are the beancounters of Detroit playing?

[@leoncutajar1369]

The EU has really strong tariffs which means they can dump their cars around the world but cars coming from outside the EU will be taxed 25% plus VAT. Australia and the US didn't have these tariffs PLUS in Australia's case many of their parts suppliers also supplied Ford and Toyota so once the government successfully chased ford out of Australia Holden and Toyota also had to leave as the parts suppliers couldn't provide the parts at a cheap enough price due to volume.

[@cartmann227]

@@leoncutajar1369 25 % not true.

[@raymondo737]

The entire thing looked pretty fishy. I thing GM was trying to extort money from the German government, as Opel is a big employer. They were probably syphoning off the profits, and presenting the European branch as a loss maker in order to get some kind of deal. Their bluff didn't work. This would explain how PSA managed to earn sizeable profits in less then a year after the take over.

[@louisf2654]

@@leoncutajar1369 There are tariffs for imports, Vauxhalls and Opels have always been built in Europe.

[@leoncutajar1369]

@@louisf2654 Yes But the point is the EU protects is major industries where the US and Australia has let theirs go to the dogs while give europe and china a leg up. To solely blame GM for closing Holden in Australia and many of their divisional in the US is wrong.

[@fredricunderhill204]

Having worked at GMAC , the fish has always stunk from the head down. GM had the wrong products which don't hold up as well.

[@donjonson1748]

Opel (GM) was once the big number 1 in Germany 1960-1980. And then the quality went down... Without GM, Opel is now again at over 10% market share, and makes no loss.

[@thomasgrabkowski8283]

Don Jonson Volkswagen was always number 1 in Germany since 1930s

[@decnijfkris3706]

Hard to find Opel dealers in my country let stand to see new Opels on the street.

[@nedlabarbara1898]

I purchased 2 GM cars new off the lot. Both had transmission failures under 40000 miles. Why would I ever buy another one?

[@uwiwithanuzi]

Pretty sure the only company that still makes decent automatic transmissions is Toyota. Even Honda has had a problem with premature automatic transmission failures.

[@steverx4460]

I bought an Australia Colorado several years ago. It's been great - because it is an Isuzu D-Max with a GM skin.

[@glennso47]

GM used to make outstanding cars but their quality has gone downhill rapidly in recent years.

[@thewanderingrey8830]

Simple; don't drive automatic.

[@67daltonknox]

Why did you buy the second one?

[@Commentator541]

Don't you think it's funny they couldn't turn a profit for 20 years, and then in it's first year the new owner makes 10% of their investment hahahaah

[@clydekaladi1069]

You misunderstood what the video was saying. The year after the divestiture, GM's global EBIT was 9.9%, not the new owner's.

[@jaafersa]

@@clydekaladi1069 No, PSA has turned a profit off of Opel and Vauxhall. The new owners managed to turn a profit where GM couldn't do it for over a decade. This isn't stated in the video, but if I recall correctly, the NYTimes reported it.

[@_PatrickO]

@@jaafersa It is in the video and it proves how terribly ran GM is. GM is the reason GM cannot make affordable sedans or profit. Other companies have all the same market forces, unions, regulations, etc. GM is just ran poorly.

[@grantedfire]

@@jaafersa That not telling the whole story a true test is when the new owner starts taking over design and other overhead cost that gm paid when they unloaded the brands. The coming years will be a real indicator.

[@Perkelenaattori]

@@clydekaladi1069 He understood it just right. 10:11 is the point where it's in the video.

[@geoffreylee5199]

Screwed the potential buyers of SAAB, the newly sold Euro Divisions immediately made a profit. For more than 20 years GM has not made any interesting vehicles. SUV and pick ups will eventually lose favour.

[@MnemeM]

Love the expert: "People no buy car, car expensive to build. This bad"

[@asssiesgaming453]

Why isnt Saab mentioned? That company had a lot of potential (yet GM destroyed it)

[@adamchase1517]

Asssie's gaming Saab destroyed themselves actually.

[@Lonestar24]

Saab was always niche and doesnt come close in relevance to any of the other brands mentioned. It was only bought very recently and sold off earlier than the "big" sell of GMs European assets.

[@davekrukraft9281]

@@adamchase1517 In ths US they rebadged trailblazers,Subarus,had one on a north american frame,all badged Saab,they destroyed what made them different.

[@gorkyd7912]

Because they're focusing efforts on electric vehicles... Like the EV1

[@WmAHughes]

@@adamchase1517 Even in the end GM killed Saab, When they were purchased by Spyker, a Dutch brand that arguably would have been the best match for Saab, GM did everything in its power via court cases to block Spyker from continuing production due to GM being unhappy with Spyker partnering with a Chinese firm ultimately leading Spyker to collapse. Although Saab were known to bleed money left, right and center during GM's reign this was due to GM's lack of understanding that Euro customers don't buy into badge engineering like the americans do, their focus on platform and part sharing lead Saab deigners and engineers to push back in fustration by developing the cars behind GM's back. GM ended up trying to create the same car at every plant and thought that sticking a different badge on would fool the consumer, in the end the GM2900 platform was used on fifteen different models across six different brands with little to no variation in quality due to fanancial restrictions from GM. The bottom line is, GM had no business being in Europe, their idea of quality is "Big with chrome" where in Europe its genuinely about refinement, I don't want to sound like I'm insulting america but things like a solid hard plastic dashboard would be unacceptable on anything with a list price of over £15,000 where it can still be found in $80,000 vehicles in the US. Saab could have been a BMW and Mercedes competitor but GM were too hell bent on sharing as many parts as possible with different marques that every car ended up in the same class thus over saturating the market.

[@josipmilkovic9970]

Gas prices in europe ->we need refined engines and not a 7.3 diesel/ petrol with 130hp that does 8mpg...

[@SianaGearz]

The Ecotec and ecoFlex engines developed by Opel were a foundation of a lot of their international business.

[@josipmilkovic9970]

@A real bisexual petrol-head in my country gas prices are 1.88$ per liter. Even 1.2$ was too much. But the whole world has to suffer because of the USs bad decisions with their fuel suppliers. + my countrys politics rise the tax per liter every few days .

[@josipmilkovic9970]

@A real bisexual petrol-head the US will drive economical cars as we drive now in 10-20 years but pay equaly for the fuel because the price will raise.

[@josipmilkovic9970]

@A real bisexual petrol-head they waste fuel ... At least have fun when your car needs 30L/100km and not what they drive.

[@bartosrobert]

meanwhile Europe:Using 1.2-1.3l engines with turbo to get 150 hp XD,or 0.9 tce with LPG to get the best fuel economy =]]]]]]

[@raymondchung4248]

China, where GM heavily relies on, the consumers' tastes are turning more like Japan and Europe, not the US. Ford almost failed out in China market recently (the market share drops to less than 1%), GM is likely to follow that trend, and it is already on the way.

[@Xennox2]

Gas cost in Europe $2 wil get you 0.26gallon (1 liter)

[@thecriss88]

It's actually the other way round: $2 will give you 1 liter (0.26 weird-volume-unit-used-only-in-us)

[@gravemind6536]

@@thecriss88 And the UK.

[@thecriss88]

@@gravemind6536 No, because UK gallon (~4.54609l) doesn't equal US gallon (~3.78541l). This only confirms how this system is convoluted.

[@mikezerker6925]

😧😮😯😳😱

[@bestamerica]

hi M R... ' america use their own currency dollar... not europe currency as Eone... but europe use their own currency Eone... not america currency dollar

[@berserkhorimiya]

GM exited India, Australia, Japan and now Europe. American car companies find it easier to roll over rather then compete, No wonder Chinese are taking over everywhere.

[@goclunker]

@@bilingualilliterate5404 East Boston, DYING!!!!!!

[@G-Mastah-Fash]

The chinese cheat rather than competing. That's worse if you ask me.

[@siyabongangomane1132]

Also exited South Africa

[@tsu8003]

Hang on though, China doesn't sell cars in Europe so you can't blame them for GMs own demise!

[@3markaw]

GM did not exit Australia. More misinformation from the dummys who watch these videos. All companies including Toyota stopped manufacturing in Australia but still sell cars there.

[@harrymurray-jones219]

And yet European brands still do well in America . Build good cars get good sales

[@KristoferOlsson]

GM in Europe is like FIAT in USA. 2 companys that dont know how to work the market they are in.

[@harrymurray-jones219]

@@KristoferOlsson what about Mercedes BMW AUDI VW Porsche Jaugar Landrover all pretty successful in the states.....

[@dinohermann1887]

@@harrymurray-jones219 It's not all about premium brands! They're still Kia, Hyundai and Mazda, they also make amazing cars without being overpriced!

[@sts1541]

hade murray, Build good cars for US market , LOL? Where have you been, check reliability ratings. As good looking MBs and BMWs are, and yes, they are, mechanically they are junk. Engines, transmissions, plastic water pumps, ABC suspensions, unnecessary sensors, tenths of computer modules to name a few and all cost $$$ to fix even if you're doing the work yourself. The ONLY way to drive those is to lease them, once warranty period is over, get rid of them. In Europe, those companies make less complicated vehicles thus better and more reliable. MBs and BMWs were great cars in US but it all ended by the end of millennium.

[@MirkoC407]

@@dinohermann1887 And their secret is to develop and build the cars where they are sold to the taste they are sold. Park a Toyota Corolla for Asia-Pacific beside one for Europe/Africa and one for America. It's three completely different cars under the same name, developed in Japan, Germany and the USA and finally built in Japan/Australia, Czech/RSA and USA respectively. I drive a Kia that was developed by Korea and Europe together, built in Slovakia for European markets and was never offered in North America at all, because the class of small vans (Kia Venga, it is basically a Nissan Note competitor) was never considered important in the US. However, in Europe it was very important until 2 or 3 years ago with Opel, Mercedes, Renault, Ford, Kia, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota competing in that class for more than 10 years (Mercedes started with the A-Class in 1997, Opel and Renault were first to follow between 2000 and 2004, Toyota, Ford and Kia the last ones around 2008 to 2010) Fun fact - according to some press note I saw a year ago the most American car is the US version of the Honda Accord. Assembled in the US with up to 80% of US parts. No Chevrolet, Ford or Dodge can Keep up with that.

[@TrimeshSZ]

I certainly wouldn't characterize GM in China as a success story - more like an object lesson in how you can get off to a really great start and then completely blow it. Going back about 15 years, the most common non-Chinese car brand you saw in China was Buick. This was largely because GM were one of the first companies to set up a JV in China (with SAIC) - the cars were somewhat expensive by local market standards, but they were also clearly better than the competition, and sold well despite the relatively high prices. Then other companies got into the market - both Japanese (Toyota, Nissan) and European (VW) - GM appear to have overestimated the value of their brand recognition, and concluded that they didn't need to either update their products or adjust their prices. They also seem to have failed to adapt to other markets changes - things like electric seats were becoming standard fitment on cars from the Chinese domestic brands, but were still extra-cost options on the GM ones. The Japanese and the Europeans didn't make the same mistake, and made sure that even their lowest trim levels always had at least the features that the competition did.

[@aggy7543]

The same bunch that went to Japan complaining that Japan didn't import American cars, when they (GM , Ford, Chrysler) didn't build right hand drive cars. They don't understand markets.

[@Sanpedranoazul]

Simply GM doesn`t know how to run a company, just ask them why it killed the EV1

[@ThePrime3193]

Americas political structure killed the EV1. All EVs was destroyed in america watch doc who destroyed the EV1 KZbin.COM

[@GH-oi2jf]

Mario Torrez Quant - The EV1 was not a production car, it was experimental. GM learned from it and moved on. A more pertinent question is why they killed the Volt, which has had the highest customer satisfaction ratings of anything sold in the US.

[@gavnonadoroge3092]

@@GH-oi2jf what did gm learn from ev1? because gm moved on to bankruptcy

[@JETZcorp]

The EV1 was a very expensive, very heavy 2-seat car with very short range. It used lead-acid batteries! A very small number of rich Southern Californians had them and liked them, until they all jumped on the Prius. It was always intended as a research vehicle to test public feedback. They had no factory to make spares, no way to train and supply dealers around the country to service it. The people who think it was a big conspiracy, clearly never heard of the Chrysler Turbine Car from the late 60s. It was exactly the same kind of program - a real-world prototype given to the public on a limited basis for testing and then crushed. That car burned MORE gas than its 60s V8 competition. So why did the oil companies have it crushed? Because they didn't; the oil companies never had anything to do with any of these decisions.

[@wesleygarrison6248]

Doesn’t know how to run a company? They wouldn’t be in business today lol.

[@hardworker5588]

"They couldn't make it because they weren't European" Well then how does Toyota and VW do so well in the USA? Just more CNBC being blindNBblind

[@SianaGearz]

Ford Europe is doing alright for itself. As is just about every single Asian brand that comes in.

[@SianaGearz]

@Fierce Omega i don't know of the US situation and can't speak of it. As far as I'm aware the European models developed by Ford Cologne were mostly brought over with a year of delay with minor changes, not sure if they haven't been marketed as much or phased out quickly? What it comes down to here in EU is marketing, meeting the customer expectations on the nose or exceeding them. Low prices and not expensive to upkeep or insure, attractive and distinctive styling, good driving feel or performance, decent features. A lot of similarities to the Peugeot brand of PSA France which has also been remarkably successful here, and also in many other regions like near East and Asia. For most buyers looking for inexpensive vehicles, the choice would come down to Ford vs. Peugeot. Perhaps akin to how PSA has no room on the American market, maybe Ford Cologne doesn't either? PSA vehicles had a particular quality that they were fairly soft on the cobble stone but very nimble and tight in turns - smaller vehicles tended to 3-wheel, larger ones had some give in the rear wheels which passively steered along, and when PSA started to lose their way with dynamics due to skyrocketing weight and safety considerations, small Ford Cologne cars picked up some of the slack. The thing with 90s PSA dynamics is that it helps you along until it doesn't and the rear end gains a mind of its own, which is not terribly safe, but I don't think modern Ford vehicles are nearly as prone to that, I don't know for certain.

[@break1146]

@Fierce Omega Isn't Ford doing well in the US? Personally for me Ford newest cars are really nice, Transit vans are really practical and nicely build and the Focus and Fiestas are nice cars as well. But I'd stay far away from the older Ford cars, not necessarily uncomfortable, but just rusty. Kind of the same reason I stay far away from Renault, I mean being able to buy ten year old Renaults with all options for like €600 explains why lol. Terrible cars.

[@eduardgherasim2896]

US media man... Bunch or either idiots or liars... Or both.

[@Syncopia]

I thought the same thing, what do you *mean* they're not European? The Japanese and Koreans aren't either and look at them go.

[@Marcel_Germann]

In 1975 the most newly registrated cars in Germany were made by Opel. It actually started in the 1980s with José Ignacio López de Arriotúa becoming lead buyer of Opel. He gagged the component suppliers to a level that was unknown until that time. This lead to a massive lost in quality of the parts, and therefore for the whole cars. That's why this effect is called "the Lopez-effect" here in Germany. Opel could never recover from this big fail. And actually Lopez went from Opel to VW, with seven of his "warriors" (that was the way he called them). VW was crippled at that time, and for his methods to reduce production costs he was called "the strangler of Wolfsburg". BTW. public prosecutors investigated against him and his team for industrial espionage, after leaving Opel they still had documents and data for new Opel models in their posession. Lopez had to pay 400,000 german marks, VW had to pay 100 million US dollars to GM and had to buy parts from GM for one billion dollars. VW recovered from this very fast, but Opel didn't. The lowered manufacturing costs were actually paid by the customers, for example on the Golf IV. The relais for the blinkers was built into the switch for the warning lights. So if the relay failed, the repair shop had to replace the whole switch instead of just simply the failed relay. Causing higher costs for the customer.

[@bobjackson4720]

GM Car production in Australia stopped a while back. The company really knows how to downsize.

[@anthonyperkins7556]

And GM have recently decided to throw in the towel on the Holden brand too

[@aromaticsnail]

Good luck to GM in China🤣.. funny that PSA reported a profit on Open/Vauxhall on the first year after the aquisition

[@Lycoris831]

They will fail in China as well because of Trade war.

[@aromaticsnail]

@@Lycoris831 don't worry. Trump will buy all GM cars China would buy😂

[@StevioGaming1]

イリヤスフィール·フォン・アインシベルン there was massive tariffs and taxes on foreign cars before the trade war in China, nothing new. Do some research please hahaha

[@zzz8888]

No one really likes American cars in China. German cars are so much better anyways

[@mikesmith-zi7sb]

ZzZ888 what about Buick they love it out there so much they have a factory just to produce Buick and they sell more Buick’s in China then US - GM is doing fine in China with exclusive product and brands

[@nunodafonseca8107]

GM destroyed SAAB. They simply don't get what makes a great car. They only got what they deserved.

[@jakelivni9576]

Correct. For GM, putting different badges on different colors of the same car is called "engineering". Totally pathetic.

[@milfordcivic6755]

I never cared for SnAABS. Most of the people that drive them should have learned to drive them first before they bought them. Saab's Volvos and Audi's always contain the worst drivers

[@fgsaramago]

@@milfordcivic6755 just came from a drive in my Saab 😄

[@unggrabb]

Bob Lutz was the main cause. What an idiot

[@Sum_Guy]

SAAB destroyed themselves. top gear s18e5

[@brucemcclelland2069]

I stopped buying american crap 19 years ago Maybe if they made quality they would sell

[@coolkid7151]

19 years was a long time ago for the auto industry man

[@derekwood3189]

How many miles or kms do you have on your car?

[@Pectopah123]

@@coolkid7151 We still have jokes about 90's Opel cars when GM tried make cars as cheap as possible. My friend had one year old 1995 Opel Astra stw and we were driving on motorway and suddenly back door just dropped off. Not funny. Well done GM.

[@politicalanlyst3951]

GM is the only company who alsways wants to discontinue their most selling brand.They fear competition.

[@coyko80]

They are crap cars. This whole video made zero true points. When Hyundai makes better car than you, you have to close down and move out.

[@sat7755]

Well said Cole. dealt with them for many years. Incompetence on a large scale is and has been their biggest asset. Case in point. They invested in EV against the likes of Tesla, and they build the Bolt. inspect both products, and one can only become speechless.

[@gravemind6536]

Yep the Koreans stole the segment of cars they were in which is dirt cheap and made them better leaving GM with nothing.

[@atos.nympha3451]

Lmaooooo

[@cammedls3532]

@Johnny Morphine Literally everyday.

[@barryheavers8382]

@Johnny Morphine ....when have you seen a 20/40 year old Hyundai or Kia out on the road ??

[@zaphodsbluecar9518]

What a crock; the reason GM failed in Europe is the same reason why they’re failing in the rest of the world - they sold poorly-designed, poorly assembled and inherently unreliable vehicles and made almost no investment locally. Now that Korea can make better-designed, more reliable vehicles with longer warranties, the ‘cheap-end’ of the market has been lost to GM. The GM-Daewoo vehicles foisted on non-US markets are simply appalling quality. I suspect that once the fashion for SUVs dies down, GM will face similar difficulties in their home territory...

[@coolkid7151]

I don’t know what you been driving.

[@zaphodsbluecar9518]

@@coolkid7151 "you've"

[@runforit420]

You're 100% correct. Once fuel prices climb again, and they will, the Big Three will be in big trouble in North America. I haven't seen a Chevrolet Aveo on the roads in a long, long time. How many 2003-2008 Corollas are left? Many.

[@kruleworld]

GM-Daewoo made Great Wall's cheap chinese knock-offs look good.

[@marks6663]

@@runforit420 oil prices are very high right now and the big vehicles are still selling well. I just paid $1.30 per litre of regular unleaded. That is close to the most I have ever paid.

[@agm6095]

Big companies always blame Unions, when in fact it's always management. Wrong decisions, overspending etc.

[@taminy2051]

I'm German and I have only ever known one guy to have an US American brand car at all. He said he hat to wait weeks for spare parts to be shipped in, the darn thing was constantly broken and a fuel guzzler. Ever tried to maneuver through a medival city where the council tried to solve the problem of space with one-way-streets (e.g. Regensburg)? The smaller the car the better. US American brands simply cannot compete!

[@Spido68_the_spectator]

Fun fact : Opel and Vauxhaul are already saved and are doing very well now... thanks to oldest car manufacturer still in activity... *BIG LOL*

[@janko7245]

That's great news

[@imanomad557]

they are VM badged Renault/ Puegots

[@patrickbateman783]

Of course... 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@Spido68_the_spectator]

@@patrickbateman783 Why is GM still alive again ?

[@patrickbateman783]

@@Spido68_the_spectator Bailouts!!!

[@emiliofernandez7117]

Part 2: Why GM left USA and went to Mexico 😎🔥💸💰

[@BIGBADWOOD]

GM Mapping The End Of Buick In America? www.forbes.com/sites/davidkiley5/2018/03/13/is-gm-mapping-the-end-of-buick-in-america/#3c0f1a5b2e84

[@Agtsmirnoff]

No loyalty to the USA or this country. Democrats worship foreign nations over the USA. Republicans worship money over the USA. Both parties are traitors.

[@alanhonlunli]

@@Agtsmirnoff That's where you are wrong, dude. Both parties are loyal, it's the corporations that have no loyalty to the USA or the country. "American" is just a marketing slogan for GM.

[@jesusborja7859]

@@alanhonlunli democrats arent loyal

[@ADEehrh]

The realization that dmdp was about ro screw thw USA economy!

[@klausschroiff4405]

So within a year, PSA made Opel profitable ... whereas US managers were incapable of getting there within a decade. There's a word for that - incompetence.

[@paulmeeker8165]

The US managers were tasked with one expectation: To save money. GM has a hard time looking at anything except the bottom line.

[@klausschroiff4405]

@@paulmeeker8165 So while they were tasked to save money, they just forgot how to make money ... Or to phrase it differently - if you don't know how to make money, saving money is all that remains - which is pretty much like entering the temple of doom.

[@paulmeeker8165]

@@klausschroiff4405-Management lost track of the big picture. anyone higher up than a 7th level was only concerned with career advancement and the way to do that was to save money. Engineers could complain all they wanted, it just fell on deaf ears. And of course that lead to the 2009 bailout by the US government...

[@MirkoC407]

Never saw such a bullsh** Back in the 80es the Opel Kadett (over in the US you could buy the same car as Pontiac Le Mans, it was basically sold globally) was the second best selling car in Germany only behind Volkswagen Golf/Jetta (counted as the same model for statistics up to the Jetta Mk5 because the Jetta basically was a Golf with rectangular headlights and a trunk back then). At the same time the Ford Escort was the best selling car in the second biggest European market, the UK. So there was a time when American owned brands were sellng well here. But they tried to control everything. They should just have seen Chrysler, who made the Opel-Mistake 40 years ago. They owned Simca-Talbot but thought their US cars are better anyways. So they sold off Simca-Talbot (to PSA by the way) and replaced their cars with the Plymouth Horizon (that was before they sold the brand so basically PSA continued building it for some years) and continued with the Plymouth Saratoga and Voyager under the Chrysler brand, later followed by the Neon, Cirrus and 300M. Only Voyager and 300M can be considered at least not a complete failure, the only Chrysler success in Europa were smaller Jeep models (Wrangler, Cherokee) when SUV (European "SUV" are mainly the American crossover class) were demanded but Europeans did not build them yet. GM always tried to make Opel more American. But other than in the 50es and 60es, when everything from America was modern and even Mercedes had to respond by building cars with tail fins, that did not work. And even after they generously allowed Opel to design their own cars, they still put American Management on top of the whole. Ford gives the European organisation much more freedom and that works way better. So the small cars like Fiesta and Focus meet the European taste, Ford develops small SUV in Europe. Meanwhile many US Ford are designed in Europe and a success in the US. Beside Fiesta and Focus also the Fusion was developed at least with Major European influence as it has to be sold successfully here either as the Mondeo. So are the smaller SUV and Vans: Ecosport, Escape Mk3, C-Max. Finally, there were identical platforms and even whole cars between Europe and US. The Opel Corsa shown in the same moment Shares its chassis with the Chevrolet Sonic while the Buick Cascada, Encore and Regal are plainly rebadged Opel Cascada, Mokka and Insignia. Basically you can even fake change them by simply replacing badges, lights and grille from Opel to Buick and back. In Germany it is common for Opel owners to replace badging by cooler looking ones, mainly Vauxhall and Holden - Buick's triple coat of arms cannot cope with their beasts in terms of coolness, even the original Opel flash looks cooler. Meanwhile many Opel dealers even know the spare part numbers for Holden and Vauxhall logos and name plates. So all that part of the Video proofs is that GM USA had no clue at all what Opel was doing despite trying to put more control on it than rival Ford on their more successful European branch. And that's basically what went wrong at GM.

[@Shitsthebed]

Funny how quality matters to car buyers.😉

[@coolkid7151]

You must be driving the older stuff

[@SuperLeica1]

A new car costs slightly more than one year´s net salary. Who would buy american?

[@coolkid7151]

SuperLeica1 you must be talking about the overpriced European cars right 😂🤦🏼‍♂️

[@Shitsthebed]

@@SuperLeica1 The only American cars you see on European roads are mostly from the 50,s and 60,s, back when they were a decent product 😉

[@decnijfkris3706]

Had two GM's, now that ain't no crap. Quality is solid.

[@renameduser6886]

The same thing happened in South Africa, GM sold all its shares and its manufacturing plant to Isuzu Motors in 2017.

[@pauc7111]

it's not just selling opel and vauxhall, cadillac and chevrolet were also in the market

[@bleeduss]

"Europe is pretty unique." and "...stringent regulations..." - I LOLed a little there. When profits lead the company, quality dives.

[@decnijfkris3706]

very unique indeed...excells in stupidity

[@lassehaggman]

Japanese carmakers have no problems with the uniqueness and stringent regulations. No one had the heart to say the truth "the quality is poor".

[@decnijfkris3706]

@@lassehaggman OMG OMG then I was lucky

[@liviobalaj]

Very interesting, although I would have one remark: Fords are extremely popular throughout Europe, particularly the Focus.

[@liviobalaj]

@Fierce Omega I know that, it's very clear from the video. I was making a remark in response to the claim in the video that GM & Ford models are not popular in Europe, which in fact they are. Focus, Fiesta are very common while GM's (now PSA's) Opel brand has at least a couple of successful models.

[@_michko_]

Liviu Balaj and Mondeo

[@bestamerica]

hi L B... ' not like ford make a focus car

[@Syncopia]

@Tomás Mladenka Last generation was.

[@imanomad557]

yes its made in Spain by SEAT.

[@friedrichhayek3683]

GMs market share would have been zero from 2008 on without the bailout

[@friedrichhayek3683]

@Scott Laux how dare you talking such nonsense

[@friedrichhayek3683]

@Scott Laux they payed back 40 billion so they kept 10 billion for themselves. Safed jobs ?have you ever heard of economics. That is creative destruction outdated stuff does not get produced anymore, the jobs are gone and then new jobs appear in more high-tech areas. Like building electric cars instead of petrol cars

[@friedrichhayek3683]

@Scott Laux general motors is an evil institution producing almost only petrol cars which drive with oil from Saudi Arabia and other terrorist States. general motors is a piece of s***, so are people defending it

[@k.g.442]

@Scott Laux: It was a slight-of-hand financial paper rearrangement you speak of as "paying back every penny". The leftist president that did this Marxist bailout gave America just what we knew he would. He gave us the shaft. Whether it was brought about by his incompetence and ignorance, versus a deliberate and willful act of destruction, is still up for debate.

[@douglasbuck2359]

Agreed! GM stands for "Garbage Motors"

[@darkredvan]

A German view on the topic, mainly focusing on the Opel brand (though it might as well go for Vauxhall too): There always has been a partly difficult or stressful relationship between Opel and GM, to a lesser degree the same is true for German (European) Ford and Ford (US). Both companies, Opel and Ford (Cologne) have a long history of building reliable and sturdy cars at least from the 1920‘s up until the 1960‘s. They were seen as German rather than US brands (cars). In the 1970‘s and 1980‘s BMW and Audi successfully could enter the premium market, join Mercedes in the luxury segment. Opel and Ford however both could not get a model firmly positioned in the premium market, they were seen as mass market cars, mainly in competition with VW. And they had another problem: their mother companies from Detroit wanted to manage their European daughters out of the US. More so with GM, a little less with Ford. To get more profit they thought a „World“ car would be a good idea. However US-designed cars did not go very well with European customers, some models simply looked weird in European eyes (some models of Opel’s Senator, Ford‘s Scorpio). Quality issues (rust) did not go well either (Opel Corsa, Astra). Another problem for Opel‘s losses were design work done for GM, but not fully payed for. Being in a mass market position, Opel and Ford not only got heavy competition by VW, but Fiat, Renault, Peugeot and Volvo. Add first Japanese (Toyota, Honda) and later Korean cars (Daewoo, Kia, Hyundai). It did not help that GM sold cars developed from Opels under their Chrysler brand too. Add that Opel did not have a SUV, no larger Sedans to speak of (in any number), Opel was only left with Corsas and Astras, small and medium size cars in a shrinking market. Maybe, if GM had given Opel and Vauxhall more independence, more leeway to act independently, or on a European level (maybe including Saab), they might have fared better. I am not sure, but it might very well be that GM micromanaged too much from their headquarters, acting too „American“ on the European market. Maybe a quite independent European division might have fared better. I guess Ford did somehow better in Europe as they had their daughters on a longer leash.

[@LeonNikkidude]

I love high emmissions standards regulations because I dont like toxic smoke!

[@arca9e295]

If GM would pull their head out of their ass and build quality cars this wouldn’t have happened

[@7runamuck]

I just traded out my seven year old GM truck (2500 Suburban 4 X 4) and bought a Toyota. The GM went through many fuel pumps (9), dash climate control switch panels (4), constant cooling system issues, several blend door motors, dash blower motor bearing failures, bearing failures in the alternators, fourth gear in the transmission starting to slip under load, engine starting to use coolant. The unit had just turned 90K at trade in. The nickel & dime thing didn't apply here, it was wads of $100.00 bills at a time, having a tow company on speed dial.

[@stefanroth6826]

The narrator seemed like he was blaming everyone else but GM

[@pinytenis420]

It's not because "ItS just Not EuROpean" ford would be failing but ford makes good pretty reliable cars and Europeans know what they are buying

[@michamcv.1846]

i ONLY buy Fords becouse they are CHEAp .. sorry ...

[@t-bone9239]

Most Ford Models in Europe are German

[@pinytenis420]

@@michamcv.1846 Lol I don't even like ford that much I'm a Toyota and Honda fanboy

[@pinytenis420]

@Johnny Morphine GM is a disgrace too cars

[@pinytenis420]

@@t-bone9239 cool

[@Plainsman1300]

A chart of GM Board salary and bonus payout would be interesting.

[@steverx4460]

Mary Barra (GM CEO) alone got a $22 million salary. I could've done the job for 1% of that and just sat at home and GM would've been better off.

[@TPEsprit]

Does anyone know which Plant(s) in Antwerp Belgium assembled Firebirds during the 1970s please? I don't know if it's possible to establish such a detail. I own a 1977 Firebird, it's final assembly was in Antwerp.

[@michaelbock19641]

In the case of the German car manufacturers, the employees sit equally on the supervisory boards and work on the success of the company. In good times as in bad times. GM has simply not understood the needs of European customers for the past 25 years.

[@lassehaggman]

The American way: Let's double our bonuses! Let's kick out half of the workers! Make them pee in bottles! does not work in Europe.

[@lanjian45]

Don't blame others, its the poor quality that makes the difference. Look at Toyota

[@Skyborn-]

Toyota sucks but they make very reliable cars, so I'll continue to buy them.

[@kosta2177]

Toyota looks weird but I ready to sacrifice the look for reliability

[@thatredmanguy]

Oh that's fine... I'll be glad when Opel can finally be able to reintroduce their cars to the U.S. post-GM. GM's business strategy is bonkers.

[@russedav5]

What business strategy? They just get $ from the govt. Govt. Motors.

[@thatredmanguy]

@@russedav5 Got a point there

[@kristoffer3000]

@@russedav5 They just put a bunch of suggestions in a hat and pull one out every time they're struggling for ideas.

[@thatredmanguy]

@Fierce Omega You just accidentally described the Mokka as a Buick. You might as well call it Opel Encore now.

[@thatredmanguy]

@Fierce Omega... But that's okay: Buick is irrelevant anyway

[@3eeerc]

0:18 Pougeot and Citron

[@davemardon6756]

Its mentioned about more stringent emissions. Why? When I retired in 2012 and moved to Germany I brought my 01 MR2 Spyder from the states. Only conversion work was lights and the addition of a fog lamp. All the emissions equipment that is standard on all American autos meets the German TUV requirements according to my local TUV.....BTW, I do like Opel and enjoy my Meriva.

[@RandyMarshSP]

Psa literally have the same car reskinned 4 times now just like vw does with skoda and seat lol

[@paulhendrix8599]

And it works pretty well for them! All serve somewhat different markets.

[@NJ-wb1cz]

This is saving the money on developing a new platform for each brand, and saves money on production, and lowers the cost of maintenance for consumers. Maybe American manufacturers should also save money that way instead of producing crap?

[@paulhendrix8599]

@@NJ-wb1cz GM kind of tried. Some things were shared (Opel/Vauxhall are virtually the same company, Opel/Buick/Chevy shared some models, Chevy/Cadillac seem to share a bunch). Notably Opel had some very popular (Corsa, Adam) platforms that were not shared with the rest. It seems like GM never really bothered to integrate Opel while PSA went hard at it right away. Some of their first steps were taking SUV models they already had and slapping Opel branding on to them. They sell pretty well in Germany (to an audience that might otherwise buy from another German brand, but not Peugeot or Citroen).

[@joseanl]

@@paulhendrix8599 I live in a city where opel has a factory, so obs. a lot of people I know work there and bought their cars. Its what you say, use common platforms that share costs but cut cost and prices depending on the brand and you will save tons of money!! They almost didn't change the Opel/Vauxhall desing at all since the PSA takeover and yet they turn it into profit...Ok, then GM was messing big time then LOL

[@NJ-wb1cz]

@@paulhendrix8599 as one weird hairy gremlin once said, 'Do or do not, there is no "try"'

[@Thhrhshrgsh]

American vehicles just don’t seem to sell very well around the world

[@Luredreier]

@The Guy That's not quite true. There's plenty of American products that's of high quality and highly sought after worldwide. For instance you know gorilla glass as used on say Samsung phones? That's made in the US. The issue rather is that many companies in the US has relied on their market dominance from back when Europe was still smouldering ruins after the world wars and on their geopolitical power to ensure sales instead of genuinly adapting to changes in the market.

[@ovliexfan2073]

Some Ford products do sell well around the world.

[@frankmagana1408]

Except china, mexico, southeast asia, brazil, actually scrap that, latin america, middle east

[@ADEehrh]

They did back.... once upon a time the workers had an ounce of pride in their work; now the idiots say; I don't care as long as I get a big fat paycheck!

[@newbietuber99966]

@@frankmagana1408 Not in Southeast Asia. Ford has stopped operations in Indonesia and GM's current market share is modest at best. From a pure product standpoint, aside for the Chevy Cruze, American cars are simply too big for Southeast Asia.

[@Nonbelieverification]

Americans in general (no pun intended) have different standards when it comes to cars. Also, the type of cars people drive & prefer in NA vs Europe is very different. GM just did not know how to adapt to European market. Other manufacturers such as Toyota, Nissan and Mazda are showing that it is possible to sell and be profitable.

[@chawenhalo0089]

Slight correction Vauxhall is UK market (historically) whilst Opel is EU continental exclusively. In effectively right and left had drive cars.

[@kostis2849]

Should say "Empire and Colonies"

[@sammy4282]

"PSA, known for brands such as poojoh and citron"

[@NPJGlobal]

He pronounced it so wrong it hurt

[@bobderbraumeister6919]

Poojoe

[@puppers2607]

0:17 Poogou and citron😂😂😂

[@willswomble7274]

If Americans can't be bothered to pronounce it correctly just how much are they bothered to make decent, competitive cars?

[@MauroRincon]

One, europeans don't drive pick up trucks, they are mostly used by companies and farmers. Two, GM hatchbacks and sedans, while fun to drive, feel somewhat outdated compared to those from VW, Peugeot or even Renault. If you visit the US, you notice that despite having groundbreaking companies like Tesla, most cars feel old fashion in terms of interior design or infotainment. There is an over fixation on size and power, while Europe is more keen on maneuverability and sophistication.

[@willswomble7274]

My dad in Scotland bought his first Vauxhall saloon car in the mid 1950's. He swore he would never, ever buy another, and didn't!

[@Phil-D83]

Opel tech kept it afloat. Gm is a lost cause.

[@iali00]

This is a typical dumb European comment. GM was smart to dump the unprofitable market.

[@Phil-D83]

@@iali00 they are unprofitable everywhere it seems.. Opel tech helped them not sink further.

[@jja5606]

@@iali00Opel turned a profit the year after the sale.

[@iali00]

J J A why did it turn a profit? Cut costs that it not anything unique or selling more cars.

[@iali00]

philip dias except you probably didn’t listen to this very documentary. They are profitable in North America, China, and Latin America. Europe is not a very profitable market for a lot of industries.

[@meathead919]

They're simply not competitive vs. European engineering.

[@paulmeeker8165]

The problem wasn't engineering per se, it was management tripping over dimes to save pennies. The unofficial motto was "Any Engineering/design problem would be made up for through manufacturing". And needless to say, that never happened.That's been GM's problem forever, they're only focused on the next quarterly report or bonus.

[@DebangaBarkakati]

Correct that to Japanese😂😂

[@Henning_Rech]

All the engineering was done by Opel in Germany, some of those cars even exported to the US, but only few. 30 yrs ago Opel was on the same level as VW. 20 yrs ago VW expanded a lot, acqiring brands like SEAT (Spain) and Skoda (Czech/Slovakia) and integrating them into the company. GM/Opel did not follow. In addition, VW had higher level brands like Audi, Porsche (not always a VW brand but close cooperation) and also SCANIA (commercial trucks). VW was very successful in China from the begin, Opel never allowed to export into other continents because they were GM territory. So the economy of scale worked against them, together with cost-cutting measures in the 1990s which ruined their quality and thus reputation. - If you build worse cars for more money it goes down the drain.

[@cytrynowy_melon6604]

Stop spreading the myth of "perfect german engineering". USA also has good engineers and scientists, the silicon valley, google, apple and microsoft are located in the US after all. Germans are actually worse at high-tech things in comparison to USA. It's just the management of american car companies that's really bad.

[@davidebacchi9030]

@@cytrynowy_melon6604 Cars are not hi-tech, are dependable tech. You may break your phone and still have enough in your pocket to buy a feature phone. If your car broke it's not that immediate. New tech is ok if you have not to rely on it and you can easly replace if it broke. Dependable thing must last without giving much hassles. Tha's because banks still run cobol from the 60s not upgrading to new, all defects have been found and now the code is dependable.

[@user-uu3gd8eo1c]

great video, where can I source this data? I would truly appreciate references, please. I hope you can help, thank you

[@erikk.2131]

One important reason of the losses of Opel is that development costs of new models where put on the balance of Opel Europe. So GM USA had more profit on their balance. GM management USA took excessive bonus extra on their wages.

[@victornderu143]

GM has also angered some by closing plants in Canada and America. I am not sure of the direction of the company.

[@feweqfwefwef9912]

Bc this is capitalism, they loving the plants down south, to our neighbors in Mexico

[@slava_trushkin]

Cheaper to produce cars in China and import them to US. Then whine about trade deficit.

[@Ckcdillpickle]

Profit. Do you continue making a product that no one buys and lose a lot of money? Or do you stop making it?

[@dishingoutls8137]

Victor Nderu It's sad to say but it looks like GM may be going out of business anytime soon here. They're clearly greedy and look like they're desperately trying to make changes to make more money. I wouldn't be surprised if they go out. You can't run a business on pure greed. At least make reliable cars if you're going to be greedy.

[@Ckcdillpickle]

@@dishingoutls8137 GM is going to be in business for a long time. Their cars are reliable, cheap and sell very well

[@weifengmao]

Same story in Australia / NZ, GM as well as other American car manufacturers have all but pulled out and Holden is on its last leg. Americans just don't get any overseas markets

[@johnkrols7974]

Because of poor build quality and heavy fuel consumption

[@ZakHooiTM]

GM was also using Opel as R&D department, shoving their costs in R&D onto GME and profits on GMW. The Global A platform was largely developed by Opel, this was later also used in GM NAO vehicles (Can put the IPC from a Buick or other GM vehiclse into my Opel Insignia for example without much effort)

[@leotimtom6637]

It shows that American companies are simply unable of precision complex engineering for any complex part is borrowed from a foreign company. Buick wouldn`t even exist without German Opel engineering. Actually GM wouldn`t exist without German Opel, South Korean Daewoo, Japanese Denso, Aisin, German Bosch , Japanese isuzu.

[@mrc4nl]

GM took a lot of profit from Opel to make the numbers for the US market look better. One year after the sale Opel started to make profit again in europe.

[@Rinor.Kryeziu]

In the 90's and before Opel was a TOP brand in Europe in par with Mercedes winning races and making excellent cars. But since then GM never wanted Opel to keep up with other german car makers in luxury market Lotus Omega was the last great Opel better than anny AMG or BMW of the time.

[@gutzberzerk7925]

what fun is, Whene PSA bougth Opel they sell car as "German Quality". It make deram much more than came from USA.

[@Spido68_the_spectator]

@@gutzberzerk7925 They mainly focus on bringing Opel's german spirit back.

[@jamesengland7461]

This is all just excuses. GM has made cars specifically for the European market for many decades, and at one time Opel was ranked very high in quality. Also, that bar graph of annual losses suggests that GM was one year away from profit. Not making a profit for 20 years is a strong indication that the company has no idea what it's doing.

[@KristoferOlsson]

back in the 70s they made ok quality cars. I used to own an 1985 opel and 1988 opel and they were not good quality cars, and they rusted almost as bad as a Fiat or Seat. My Dad owned Opels all his life until he got a stroke. Last reliable one he had was the 1984 Opel Rekord. The Omega 3000 was terrible in reliability all ways accepet the engine. He drove it 650 000km before it was so rusted out that it was impossible to fix. And 90% of the electric didnt work. Last car was a late 1990s Vectra was a rustbucket went to the scrap after he got the stroke. my 1988 kadett had more problems then all of my cars the last 20 years toghether. 2 Volkswagen golf, 1 Mazda 626 and now an Toyota.

[@rods6405]

That is how I read those charts.

[@thefatboyhotmailcouk]

4:29... I drove down the road today!

[@rahulpchowdhury3458]

They left India too and I am stuck with one not being able to sale as resale value has gone super low