I was reading an article about how PSA Groupe is going to open a HQ in Atlanta, GA (I realize many on these forums are from outside the USA), quite possibly to bring Opel into the North American Market. That brought to mind, I remember GM sold Opel last year, but I was not aware that it was to Peugeot, nor was I aware that Vauxhal was part of the deal. And it hit me; if GM sold both Opel and Vauxhal, what presence do they have in Europe? The answer, of course, is that they do not; and the leadership of General Motors are okay with that.
This is concerning to me, not that Iâm ever get to work in Europe, because General Motors is my employer. I studied marketing in college, so it perplexes me that leadership is so passe about leaving an entire continent un-catered to. That is not to say that GM and PSA are not still working together on various technologies, as the articles I read stated they still would, but outside of a couple hundred specialty vehicles targeted at enthusiasts, never will a GM be sold in Europe, again.
Part of the reason they give for withdrawing from the European Market is that the dynamic of the auto industry, besides being highly regulated, is shifting away from ownership, and towards ride sharing platforms. Outside of Uber, Iâm afraid I do not understand how this works. Perhaps someone could explain. Are European people not buying cars, instead opting to subscribe to vehicle fleets (as Volvo proposed), or am I completely wrong.
In general they have a much better public transit system over there then we do here and also in general live closer to work so owning a car isnât needed for most. I think more so that companies are trying to get ready for sharing vs ownership because when we do get self driving cars it makes a lot more financial sense for 50 people to own 10 cars then it does for each to have their own because we donât constantly use our cars and by far the most expensive part of these sharing programs like Uber is the driver so maybe thatâs also why they arenât concerned about selling to individual customers in an alreybery competitive market.
To be honest, once you get out of big, overcrowded, unliveable cities or bundle of cities, public transportation is pretty much inexistant and there is no will to develop it as everybody embraced owning a car. Even carpooling doesnât make sense as every single person has their own needs, nobody comes from the same place and works in the same place.
As for GM selling Opel well⌠I didnât think of it that way, itâs actually a pretty good theory. It just takes us one step closer to every single car sold in Europe being a Peugeot to an extent
for your last part about Ridesharing, GM is getting into that market as well, as they will soon be making a 100% autonomous Bolt without a steering wheel for ridesharing purposes (AKA, you canât buy one). so GM is indeed at least getting into that market, but if itâs so popular in Europe, it now seems to make a little less sense, they make the perfect vehicle for it but donât use it in the places of highest demand.
Ehh, no not really. Most European countries have pretty extensive public transport links even out of town. If a small village doesnât have a train, they usually have a bus that goes to the nearest town that does.
I donât know personally. My only experience was when I was on a class trip to Munich 25 years ago. We went everywhere by train. If memory serves however, it took most of my âwalking moneyâ. The only rural area I think I ever went to was Oberammergau, and I donât remember it being close to any rail lines.
So like I said, I donât know what it truly is like over there. I just worry that in a global marketplace that itâs just fine to not participate in an entire continent.
Ish. Studied for one year in Strasbourg without actually living there (275K inhabitants intra muros, 500K if you count the âurban communityâ of smaller towns attached to it).
And then, lived for three years in Mulhouse which is smaller (100K intra muros, 260K with suburban towns)
Strasbourg had me depressed the whole time I was there and whenever I have to go there now I make it as short as possible.
Mulhouse was more bearable. Quieter people. Less traffic. Plus I had a car at the time so no need to use public transportation.
Well of course. Thatâs an entire continent in the end. And you happen to live in one of the least âcivilisedâ (by which I mean affected and âtaken overâ by humans) areas, so⌠thatâs to be expected. On the other hand I, living nearly in the centre of Europe, in Warsaw, consider the cityâs public transport to be good enough to see nearly no point in using a car inside the city.
