The car manufacturer Opel has been inaugurated very late in the sales talks of GM and Peugeot, according to manager magazin information. The GM daughter has an alternative plan in the drawer.
Opel boss Karl Thomas Neumann in Ampera-e.
Wednesday, 15.02.2017
13:20
The board of the car manufacturer Opel is from the Acquisition negotiations with the French competitor PSA Peugeot Citroën completely surprised. According to manager magazin, the management of the Rüsselsheim-based company was inaugurated on Tuesday morning by telephone in the plans of the American parent company General Motors (GM). Only Opel boss Karl Thomas Neumann had been informed a little earlier.
GM’s information policy is also delicate because Neumann has been working on another future project for the automaker for months. The boss wants to convert Opel to 2030 to a pure Elektromarke, reports the manager magazin in its newest issue.
GM boss Mary Barra and the Opel supervisory board chairman Dan Ammann come today to Rüsselsheim to inform the top management about the discussions with PSA. The corporations confirm negotiations for a deeper cooperation.
Decision of GM board about electrical plan
The alternative electric strategy has been developed by Opel CEO Neumann in the past months together with the Executive Board. Neumann wants to build the new Opel on the new electric platform of the GM group. The first of the battery-powered models is currently on the market. In spring, at the latest in May, the GM board should actually decide on the electrical plan. As it has promised the leadership in Detroit, it says in Rüsselsheim. GM boss Mary Barra has been promoting the development of electric cars for years. What opportunities the electric plan of the Opel management considering the negotiations of the GM top with Peugeot 
is still unclear.
The Neumann Plan is considered by the company to be an outbreak scenario and a way of ensuring the survival of the brand. GM has not made a profit in Europe for more than 15 years. In 2016, the operating loss was $ 257 million. The prospects for 2017 are bleak, reports manager magazin.
Against this backdrop, Neumann sees the danger that Opel can not invest in the medium term in the simultaneous development of cars with combustion engines and electric drives, it says in the company. Therefore, he wanted to focus the brand completely early on the drive of the future. As early as 2030, no more burners should be offered. The development should be stopped earlier accordingly. Neumann even went through a break-up into an Old and a New Opel, reports manager magazin. Examples would be the electricity giants Eon and RWE, both of whom have recently shared.