A recent report by American financial giant Morgan Stanley suggested that General Motors needs to get rid of its Opel division and quick, as the loss-making automaker has haemorrhaged over €12.5 billion in a little over twelve years. The report's author, Adam Jonas - lead auto analyst at Morgan Stanley - suggested that if GM did not cut its European wing free it could risk losing the same again in less than six years.
Somebody appears to have forgotten to tell Opel though. Just this week the German car announced that it has invested over half a billion Euro on a new engine plant in Hungary. Opened by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the new plant will employ 800 people and has the capacity to manufacture half a million engines a year.
The engines produced at the Hungarian plant will be the latest Euro 6 compliant units that will be used throughout Europe, but the plant will also allow Opel to expand its market share in Hungary and neighbouring countries. At the moment it is the number one manufacturer in Hungary with an eleven per cent market share.
Also recently announced was a €28.5 million extension of Opel's testing facilities at Dudenhofen, Germany. The extension includes a refurbishment of the existing test area and a new high-speed testing facility with 40 degree banks that will allow drivers to get up 250km/h, along with a copy of a public street, including a city-driving route.
Opel is certainly not spending like a company supposedly on the brink.