From 2011 to 2017, experiences point out that GM Europe misplaced a mean of $1 billion yearly. Now led by Mary Barra, GM was seeking to depart its troubled historical past behind, and Barra’s eyes narrowed on the unprofitable European steadiness sheet.

The primary technique was to alter the administration, and in July 2014, Karl Thomas Neumann assumed the place of CEO at Opel. Neumann, an skilled business professional, tried his finest, and the model neared profitability in 2016 however could not fairly attain it. Based on Autoweek, Carlos Tavares of PSA stated the corporate could not preserve “Making pink ink for 10 years.”

Maybe Opel, beneath Barra and Neumann, would have reached profitability. However we’d by no means discover out as a result of the Brexit referendum got here alongside in that promising 2016. The financial impact of Brexit on the automobile business, generally, was palpable, however already-shaky Opel took the blow more durable than others. Newspapers reported Opel/Vauxhall chopping manufacturing and decreasing workers hours to regulate to the financial local weather. One of many automobiles affected by this choice was the Corsa, the second-best-selling automobile within the UK on the time.

GM could not take the danger with the shifting geopolitical panorama, and that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s again.