Opel Stand Consists Entirely Of New AdamsThings must be really bad in Europe if leaders of big car companies turn down their chance to brag about the future, but General Motors’ Opel-Vauxhall and Ford Europe did just that at the Paris Car Show. A press day on the eve of a major car show is usually a time for CEOs to grab the microphone, switch on the teleprompter, and bask in the ready-made spotlight of the assembled TV and media. But as sales prospects in Europe turn from bad to worse and the flow of red ink turns into a torrent, GM Opel and Ford decided a little restraint made more sense. GM Europe’s Opel/Vauxhall is expected to lose more than $1 billion this year, and doesn’t have a permanent CEO, but it did have a smart little car to announce, the Adam. So it unveiled the Adam without the traditional pep-talk from on high. It liked the new car so much, its stand consisted entirely of Adams. The Adam city car is designed to steal sales away from other stylish small cars like the Fiat 500 and BMW Mini. Opel sales chief Alfred Rieck, at a Paris Car Show event, said sales in Europe would likely this year reach just over one million. In 2011, Opel Vauxhall sold just over 1.2 million cars. Ford Europe, also on course to lose more than $1 billion this year, cancelled its press conference, apparently calculating that the big event it organised a couple of weeks ago in Amsterdam, Holland, was publicity enough. At the Amsterdam event Ford CEO Alan Mulally unveiled an ambitious new product plan, including exporting the iconic Mustang sports car. At the Paris show, the new Ford Mondeo took center stage on the Ford stand, but the microphones remained silent. Neil Winton – October 1, 2012 |
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