Fiat could buy Vauxhall and Opel

[stockhausen]

Italian carmaker Fiat is in talks about buying the European business of General Motors (GM) - which includes the UK's Vauxhall and Germany's Opel.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8032213.stm

Well at least Vauxhall and Fiat have something in common in that they both have a long history of producing rustbuckets

 

[Dolph]

Is Fiat's plan to attempt to become too big to fail? They've never exactly been a model of financial success, and they are not doing so well themselves at the moment, massive losses, a junk status credit rating and borrowing money left right and centre...

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-01-22-chrysler-fiat-merger-deal_N.htm

 

[Muffin`]

i did wonder who'd put in for it - dont gm of europe operate the same as ford europe trying to be as low priced as possible and get the US side to keep them proped up so who ever bought them would have to be solid to stay alive - the italians never seem to be able to do simple book keeping.

 

[Mad old tory]

i did wonder who'd put in for it - dont gm of europe operate the same as ford europe trying to be as low priced as possible and get the US side to keep them proped up so who ever bought them would have to be solid to stay alive - the italians never seem to be able to do simple book keeping.

I think in Ford's case the European operation is profitable but is held back by the desperate state of the US business. Not sure about GM though.