German green energy company makes €1 bn bid for Opel car factories

probe

http://www.solarworld.de/?L=1, the third largest green energy company in Germany has made a bid for the German operations of near bankrupt General Motors. If the bid succeeds it would give them a platform to build green cars, as well as a distribution network and brand name.

The German government might be better off investing another €1 billion in this venture rather than wasting it on the GM offshoot. GM is a sick company that has burnt billions of dollars in cash over the past decade, producing cars based on antiquated technology that people don't want.

http://news.google.ie/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=en_ie&q=solarworld+opel&ie=UTF-8&scoring=n

SeanW

I wouldn't be so quick to judge GM. They have some nice stuff in their laboratories, like this seawater prototype car.

My guess is the prototype saltwater-fired Hy-wire is based on the technique found by this man.

Despite GMs many mistakes in the not too distant past, part of me is hoping they'll survive at least so that these babies will find their way onto the market. Though the conspiracy theorist in me is thinking this will be buried and never seen again.

probe

SeanW wrote: »

I wouldn't be so quick to judge GM. They have some nice stuff in their laboratories, like this seawater prototype car.

I was aiming my criticisms at GM rather than Opel. If the German gov put €1bn into Opel, it would quickly find its way to the GM central coffers in Detroit. In the same way as Lehman NY swiped $8bn from their London subsidiary in the week before the bankruptcy. The grasp of a drowning man....

While GM has the Volt in the pipeline and one or two other things, most of the product range is rubbish. They have a massive unionised labour force. The production of electric cars will be far less labour intensive due to the absence of the internal combustion engine and gear system. The GM legacy business is a bottomless pit for $$$.

.probe

cormie

SeanW wrote: »

I wouldn't be so quick to judge GM. They have some nice stuff in their laboratories, like this seawater prototype car.

That's great. Top Gear says 10-20 years. I wonder would it be possible to get any sooner?

probe

cormie wrote: »

That's great. Top Gear says 10-20 years. I wonder would it be possible to get any sooner?

There is nothing new in that car - it is just an electric car, where the battery is replaced by a "hydrogen battery". All electric cars are basically "skate boards" with a roof on top.

I can't see that the steering system has much appeal except to Brits and others who drive on the wrong side of the road. It would have no appeal to the continental European, American or Asian driver (aside from Japan). The right-hand driving position is totally unnatural for the majority of people, unless they are left-handed.

The "fly by wire" driving controls are perfectly deliverable today in a conventional vehicle - they have been used in Airbus aircraft for decades. They don't provide any benefit to the driver in terms of use, convenience or energy saving - so it is down to component economics.

towel401

probe wrote: »

The "fly by wire" driving controls are perfectly deliverable today in a conventional vehicle - they have been used in Airbus aircraft for decades. They don't provide any benefit to the driver in terms of use, convenience or energy saving - so it is down to component economics.

they're worse. and actually use more power. even cars with too much power steering are not nice to drive i think. power steering actually uses a lot of power, most of which ends up being used to heat up the hydraulics. the girlies love it though, 0 effort required to move the car and a sense of isolation from the outside world

SeanW

the car is powered by seawater.

robtri

probe wrote: »

http://www.solarworld.de/?L=1, the third largest green energy company in Germany has made a bid for the German operations of near bankrupt General Motors. If the bid succeeds it would give them a platform to build green cars, as well as a distribution network and brand name.

The German government might be better off investing another €1 billion in this venture rather than wasting it on the GM offshoot. GM is a sick company that has burnt billions of dollars in cash over the past decade, producing cars based on antiquated technology that people don't want.

http://news.google.ie/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=en_ie&q=solarworld+opel&ie=UTF-8&scoring=n

Whats so great about Solarwind trying to buy Opel???? Opel is liquid as a standalone, it makes money...it just gets swallowed by GM and is tarred witht he same brush when it comes to financials..

Solarwind will continue with Opels curent line up, they will continue to make petrol and diesel engines, they say they will concentratre on making greener cars, emmmmm opel have been doing that for decades....every model range is getting greener and more efficient, they have to because of European directives...
Solar wind want to look more at hybrids and electric cars?????? opel do this already in conjunction with GM, do solarwind have enough cash after spending 1billion(which has beeen turned down as it is too low) to spend on R&D, I very very seriously doubt it...
Here's a list of the R&D costs for a few manufacturers
Company R&D expenditures in $m
Toyota 8,386
GM 8,100
Ford 7,500
Honda 5,142
VW 4,757
Daimler 4,321
Nissan 4,001
BMW 3,995
Peugeot 2,835
Renault 2,531

I very much doubt that solarwind would be good for car manufacturing,

probe

robtri wrote: »

Whats so great about Solarwind trying to buy Opel???? Opel is liquid as a standalone, it makes money...it just gets swallowed by GM and is tarred witht he same brush when it comes to financials..

Solarwind will continue with Opels curent line up, they will continue to make petrol and diesel engines, they say they will concentratre on making greener cars, emmmmm opel have been doing that for decades....every model range is getting greener and more efficient, they have to because of European directives...
Solar wind want to look more at hybrids and electric cars?????? opel do this already in conjunction with GM, do solarwind have enough cash after spending 1billion(which has beeen turned down as it is too low) to spend on R&D, I very very seriously doubt it...
Here's a list of the R&D costs for a few manufacturers
Company R&D expenditures in $m
Toyota 8,386
GM 8,100
Ford 7,500
Honda 5,142
VW 4,757
Daimler 4,321
Nissan 4,001
BMW 3,995
Peugeot 2,835
Renault 2,531

I very much doubt that solarwind would be good for car manufacturing,

I agree - should solarwind manage to gain control of Adam Opel, they will almost certainly continue with the current product range for many years to come.

The company has not revealed its plans if it manages to succeed with the acquisition, so one can only speculate. If solarwind was to go into the electric car business on a "green field site" basis, they would have to establish a brand which would take time to penetrate public perception, buy in or build an assembly line, get their hands on the battery technology, and build up a network of stores to sell the product. In total, a non-trivial task in financial terms.

If they managed to buy Opel perhaps with gov.de aid, they have an ongoing business (part of which could perhaps be sold off in time, reducing the cost of the acquisition), making it a far simpler exercise to bolt on various types of battery, plug in hybrid, and perhaps H2 based products, and sell them through the established Opel distribution network.

It is a difficult time to get funding for new business ventures - though I suspect green business ventures are sexier prospects for funding :-)

If Opel is to stay with GM, assuming GM continues to stave off bankruptcy, I can't see the same focus on moving the Opel range to electric.

Porsche has probably made enough money in the derivative market over the past few months (about 10 bn €) to fund a move to electric vehicles.

It is possible that a few companies in the green energy area and the vehicle business in Germany will link together through alliances or acquisitions to bring their combined expertise and resources together.

.probe