Opel’s new CEO urges staff to stop blaming GM for problems

Nick Reilly, the new CEO of GM”s German subsidiary Opel motors, has asked his staff to not stay disillusioned and place blame for the company”s problems with GM.

“That is only a poor excuse to avoid assuming responsibility for the difficult situation — it’s a victim mentality.”, Reilly said.

There are numerous things that contributed to Opel”s decline, including the lack of a product smaller than their subcompact Corsa, will likely be overshadowed by declining demand in 2010. Reilly also predicted that the western European market would lose about 1.5 million units this year, bringing the market to around 12.1 million units.

Reilly became CEO of Opel on Friday, and has served as president of GM Europe since December, when he moved over from GM”s Asia-Pacific region where he had been since 2002.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)