Friday, just days after automaker General Motors Co. (MTLQQ.PK) announced its surprise pull out from the Opel/Vauxhall deal, Group Vice President and President of Opel Europe Carl-Peter Forster is leaving his role as head of European operations. Forster is reportedly upset over GM's decision to retain its troubled European operations, after it had agreed to sell a majority stake to a consortium led by Canadian car-parts maker Magna International, Inc. (MGA, MG.A.TO) in early September.
Forster has agreed to advise the company during the transition to find a new chief executive officer, with GM initiating an immediate external search. Forster is reportedly expected to be succeeded on an interim basis by David Reilly, GM's executive vice president and president of international operations. GM's Vice Chairman, Marketing and Communications Robert Lutz is also reportedly being made chairman of Opel's supervisory board while the automaker looks for the new Opel chief executive officer.
Forster has held his most recent positions since June 2004. He has also been chairman of the Opel Supervisory Board since June 2004 and chairman of Saab since April, 2005. Forster started his career in 1982 as a consultant for McKinsey & Co. in Munich. In 1986, he joined BMW where he held various leadership positions before becoming managing director of BMW South Africa in 1996 and the board member responsible for all vehicle development projects in 1999.
Prior to being appointed president of GM Europe and chairman of the Opel Supervisory Board, Forster was chairman and managing director of Adam Opel from April 2001. In his three years in that position, Forster initiated far-reaching restructuring programs and a major product offensive focusing on innovative design and industry-leading build quality.
GM said it will work with Opel leadership, in consultation with representatives of the European Employees Forum, in moving forward with a plan that will build a strong and enduring future for the Opel/Vauxhall brands.
In a statement, GM President and Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson said, "The Opel brand has made tremendous progress under Carl-Peter's tenure and leadership over the past several years. We thank him for his significant accomplishments and wish him only the best in the future. In the meantime, we're confident that the key personnel leading Opel will stay focused on running the business during this time of transition."
The company added that it expects to finalize proposals for establishing Opel/Vauxhall's future next week and will be engaging all stakeholders to work together in achieving mutual goals. Meanwhile, GM noted that no other management changes to the Opel Europe organization are being considered at this time. GM reportedly said Thursday that it planned to repay the balance of a 1.5 billion euros or US$2.2 billion bridge loan by the end of November, that was received from the German government for Opel.
Detroit, Michigan-based car maker GM, which emerged from bankruptcy in July, had announced Tuesday that the board has decided to retain its German unit Adam Opel GmbH and British sister brand Vauxhall, citing the improving business environment as well as the brands importance to GM's global strategy. The company added that new GM would instead initiate a restructuring of its European operations, which could see total restructuring expenses of about 3 billion euros and a loss of about 10,000 jobs, or a fifth of the workforce. GM had noted that the restructuring cost is significantly lower than the bids received for the two brands.
In early September, GM agreed to sell its majority stake in Opel and Vauxhall to a consortium led by Magna International. Magna teamed up with Russian auto maker OAO GAZ Group and state-controlled Russian financial group OAO Sberbank for the deal. The deal was originally expected to be signed in early October and close by the end of November. The German government has helped Magna to win the bid by offering 4.5 billion euros or US$6.4 billion in state aid.
Though GM has not given a reason for Forster's departure, Forster had been highly critical of GM's last-minute decision not to sell Opel to Magna and their Russian backer, state-owned Sberbank. The decision has also angered German workers and German government officials, who worked hard to get the deal done. Forster was expected to run Opel after the majority stake was transferred to the consortium.
MTLQQ.PK closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $0.60, down $0.01 or 1.64% on a volume of 2.21 million shares, sharply lower than the three-month average volume of 11.0 million shares.
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