At a press conference held in Paris on Monday, the transfer of the automobile brands Opel and Vauxhall from the American giant General Motors to the French PSA group, owner of Peugeot and Citroën, was formally announced. The sale, worth €2.2 billion, will turn the latter into the second biggest car manufacturer in Europe, after Volkswagen.
The President of General Motors, Dan Ammann, declared that among the factors affecting the company’s decision to sell two of its unprofitable European automakers were the plunge of the pound caused by the result of the referendum on Britain’s exit from the European Union and the environmental policies which will be implemented in the EU to regulate emissions of air pollutants, requiring significant investments in electric vehicle technologies. The newly inaugurated Trump administration of US President Donald Trump also seems to have influenced the move: when asked about this at the event in Paris, Chairwoman and GM CEO Mary Barra replied that her company took into consideration “the changing landscape from a regulatory, a geopolitical and customer preference standpoint”.
A joint statement made by the company announced that PSA will partner up with the French bank BNP Paribas to take over the financial side of running Opel and Vauxhall from GM.
After three years of crisis involving considerable job cuts and large debts, this expansion of PSA shows a sudden change in the group’s fortune, which already started in 2015, after its Chinese partner Dongfeng and the French government acquired stakes in the company. This led to measures which managed to cut costs, decrease the debt of the PSA and turn a profit, ultimately allowing it to purchase Opel and Vauxhall. On the other hand, General Motors is expected to gradually retreat from Europe, a process which began in 2015 with its withdrawal from Russia.
English – German glossary:
worth (wɜːθ) = im Wert von
the latter (ˈlætə(r)) = die Letztere
car manufacturer (kɑː(r) ˌmænjuˈfæktʃərə(r)), automaker (ˈɔːtəʊmeɪkə(r)) = Autohersteller
unprofitable (ʌnˈprɒfɪtəbl) = unrentabel
plunge (plʌndʒ) = Sturz
environmental policy (ɪnˌvaɪrənˈmentl ˈpɒləsi) = Umweltpolitik
to implement (ˈɪmplɪment)= umsetzen
emission (iˈmɪʃn) = Ausstoß
air pollutant (eə(r) pəˈluːtənt) = Luftschadstoff
to inaugurate (ɪˈnɔːɡjəreɪt) = einführen
CEO (ˌsiː iː ˈəʊ) = Geschäftsführerin
to take into consideration = berücksichtigen
landscape (ˈlændskeɪp) = Landschaft
regulatory (ˈreɡjələtəri) = regelnd
standpoint (ˈstændpɔɪnt) = Standpunkt
joint statement (dʒɔɪnt ˈsteɪtmənt) = gemeinsame Erklärung
to partner up (ˈpɑːtnə(r) ʌp) = zusammenschließen
to take over = übernehmen
to run (rʌn) = (hier) leiten
job cut (dʒɒb kʌt) = Stellenkürzung
debt (det) = Shuld
expansion (ɪkˈspænʃn) = Erweiterung
change in fortune = Schicksalswende
to acquire (əˈkwaɪə(r)) = erwerben
stake (steɪk) = Anteil
to lead to sth = zu etw führen
to turn a profit = Gewinn machen
ultimately (ˈʌltɪmətli) = letztendlich
to purchase (ˈpɜːtʃəs) = kaufen
to retreat (rɪˈtriːt) = sich zurückziehen
withdrawal (wɪðˈdrɔːəl) = Rückzug