Opel’s New Owner Vows to Make What General Motors Couldn’t: Money Rüsselsheim told that This perception that you may have, which of course is not my intention, Mr. Tavares said that, despite the heavy use of French parts, "Opel will remain a true German brand." After a presentation by Mr. Lohscheller, the Opel chief executive, that was heavy on PowerPoint slides and corporate jargon, Mr. Tavares delivered what amounted to a much blunter blood-sweat-and-tears speech to Opel’s long-suffering employees and managers. 9, 2017 FRANKFURT — It was telling that the first question Carlos Tavares, the chief executive of the French carmaker PSA Groupe, faced during a news conference at Opel headquarters on Thursday was whether he was arrogant. " he said, "getting worse day by day." PSA, the maker of Peugeot and Citroën vehicles, is taking ownership of Opel at a difficult time for the industry. that It’s a dramatic situation, With sales of 4.3 million cars a year, PSA — including Opel — will still be less than half the size of Volkswagen, the Renault-Nissan Alliance or Toyota. Mr. Tavares, whose company acquired Opel and its Vauxhall brand from General Motors earlier this year, had just brashly claimed that he would be able to succeed at the task that has confounded generations of G.M.
