And now for something completly different

Discussions are slowly coming to their closing stages in Germany regarding the saving of Opel & its independancy from GM.
GM will soon be filing for bankruptcy so things now have to happen fast.
English TV news seems to take it for granted that Vauxhall will safely fall under the Opel blanket!
Do they think that the German Government & Taxpayers will want to spend cash to rescue a British company whilst the German company will have to seriously cut back & also sack employees regardless of what cash input they may receive?
I think that it is possible that Vauxhall will be in for a very big surprise in the near future?
Can somebody explain exactly what Vauxhall does, other than build Opels & stick Vauxhall badges on them?
Provoketively put admitedly, but how much of the design, development & production processes actually occur in GB?
If they only offer an assembly facility & car sales continue to slump then that facility could possibly be discarded.
I think that the future of Vauxhall is looking extremely dodgy.
What am I missing when thinking all of that?

Cheers
John

Its about time our government looks after there own will it happen NO .

The car industry is under alot of pressure or i should i say survive 2009-2010.

As for Vauxhall or Opel your wright on the nail on that we all can see what the out come of that will be.

I say buy British build cars ?

Eddie.

Well it seems now that Magna will have control of Opel etc.
Large cuts in jobs but no closure of any of the German plants (so far)
The next few weeks will be "interesting" for Vauxhall to say the least
I wonder what Gordon's answer to it all my be. Does he know what's going on?

Cheers
John

I think your comments could be right on it John, but we will have to wait & see. I wouldn't believe anything said either by our so called government or the car industry. We haven't been in times like before and I'm not sure any of them know what they are doing, lets face it the car industry has been pushing out cars to everyone who 'wants' a new one but doesn't really 'need' a new car for years, but now they have realised when cash it tight that the second hand one is actually still very good and serves its purpose perfectly well so why buy a new one? I think it will be a very long time, if ever again that new cars sell in the same quantities they used too, so I don't think Vauxhall will have an easy ride once the new ownership is fully implimented, but then what do I know...my GM Saab went back at the end of it's lease in March, they were desparate to sell it and get the cash, so what is going to happen to Saab as well?
Cheers, Tim.

Update.
GM plans to close or mothball up to 14 US plants and almost halve its 54,000-strong US workforce.

Here in Europe, The German government approved the sale of Opel and Vauxhall to a consortium led by Magna, but in spite of reassurances from business secretary Peter Mandelson about Vauxhall manufacturing in the UK, no clear picture has emerged as to where the axe will fall to fix the European over-capacity problem.

Saab, also owned by GM, is up for offer as a separate entity – with Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg recently emerging as a possible bidder.

Today is also a key date for Chrysler, as last night a US bankruptcy court approved its sale to Fiat.

What next ?
Eddie King .

Vauxhalls built in Russelsheim maybe?
Mandelson & Brown what a deadly concoction; "no clear picture", now where have I heard that before?
I don't follow the Fiat / Chrysler thingy either, Fiat are up against the wall as well.
Smokescreens & subtifruge comes to mind
Things will get quite interesting.

Cheers
John

So let me see if i forget that i finished paying my mortgage of i can still claim for it on two homes or a duck house in the middle of the pond you really could make this up.

That,s how bad its got for the Government.

LDV going into receivership where the money they promised to help this company out.

They talk the talk and nothing happens,its time they came up with real money to help these companies out you only have to look at Europe to see what there doing.
Sorry for the moan i herd enough bull $ from Mr Brown.

Yours Oliver Cromwell sorry Eddie King.

The expenses scandal is indeed deplorable.
However I have the feeling that this is the "Smokescreen"
There's nothing new here, Politicians have been screwing the system for an eternity, so why now give the Press access to such information?
Holding their hands up to this one may be a cheap "out" for many who may know the worst.
Pure conjecture on my behalf but I consider that the "Bubble" has not burst yet, but is just leaking a bit.

However, back to topic; things have gone quiet on the Vauxhall front. German industry & other businesses in extreme difficulty are very upset about the governments solution to the Opel problem.
This is still going to be a very interesting "space" to watch.

Cheers
John

Yes John, I'm sure it will get much more interesting yet.
My business sells electrical & safety equipment to industry. Things are really tough, but definately seem to be getting worse not better. Lots are holding back with orders, several of our customers can't get finance to build machines, competitors are selling off stock cheap (some 20% lower than the usual low) and orders are slowing rapidly so there definately won't be money going into the system for the public to buy new cars, oh, and the Health & Safety mandatory sign for offices has been up-dated by some bureaucrats so they want us to all buy new ones and get this, because I have a large American supplier we have been on an Anti-Bribery course and have to register to be monitored anually (which of course they charge £500 a year to do) oh well the sun's out, and I'm looking forward to Snetterton in a couple of weeks.
Cheers, Tim.

That reminds me of a visit to Halfords.
Having bought 5 litres of anti freeze I asked the spotty thing at the cash desk if there was a possibility of him finding an empty one in the service dept. (for mixing purposes).
Spotty one: " Oh no Sir health & safety you know"
Me: But I've got one full of, oh never mind"
GB's gone bonkers. There must be 1000's of people in full time employment just doing "Health & safety"
How much does all that put on the cost of a product??
Relatively speaking Germany has become a much free'er land over the years compared to GB.
I can fully understand your frustration.
Sun's over the Yard Arm here, so time to crack open a beer.
Have a nice evenung regardless.

Cheers
John

Hey Ho !
Can't think of a witty reply as I'm just about to do battle with British Gas, our new tarriff for electricity supply here at work confirms they want to increase the prices by 124%

Cheers,
Tim.

TimS wrote:Can't think of a witty reply as I'm just about to do battle with British Gas, our new tarriff for electricity supply here at work confirms they want to increase the prices by 124%

I'd suggest politly that they are missing a decimal place in there.

TimS wrote:Hey Ho !
Can't think of a witty reply as I'm just about to do battle with British Gas, our new tarriff for electricity supply here at work confirms they want to increase the prices by 124%

Cheers,
Tim.

And "THEY" told us that gas from the continent would be much cheaper than North Sea gas ever was
Look on the bright side when someone across the Channel starts throwing their Teddies out of the Pram they might also decide to turn the tap off.
Talk about screwed up

Take the Lotus for a spin this evening; things will feel a lot better

Cheers
John

GM sells SAAB to Swedish buyer!