Currently reading: General Motors records £2.26bn loss due to Vauxhall-Opel sale
Expenses associated with sell-off of European brands hit GM's profitability, but share price rises after revenue exceeds expectations

General Motors recorded a loss of £2.26bn in the third quarter of this year, due to costs related to the sale of the Vauxhall and Opel brands.

The American firm recently completed the sale of its European operations to the PSA Group in a deal worth around £1.9bn. However, the cash it received from that sale was offset by costs relating to the deal, including charges relating to pensions and contract cancellations.

While GM had warned investors of a special one-time charge of costs relating to the sale, the final figure of £4.1bn was slightly larger than anticipated and only partially offset by the income of the firms.

Insight: why has PSA bought Opel and Vauxhall?

The sell-off of Vauxhall and Opel is part of a wider series of moves by GM to withdraw from unprofitable markets. It has also announced it will stop selling vehicles in India and sell its South African operations to Isuzu.

GM’s revenue in the third quarter of the year – running from July to September – totalled £25.5bn. That was down 13.5% year on year but was higher than had been expected, prompting the firm’s share price to rise after the announcement.

The firm’s third-quarter earnings report also highlights the growing importance of China to car makers. GM brands delivered 982,311 vehicles in the country in that period, an increase of 12.3% year on year. 

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James Attwood

James Attwood, digital editor
Title: Acting magazine editor

James is Autocar's acting magazine editor. Having served in that role since June 2023, he is in charge of the day-to-day running of the world's oldest car magazine, and regularly interviews some of the biggest names in the industry to secure news and features, such as his world exclusive look into production of Volkswagen currywurst. Really.

Before first joining Autocar in 2017, James spent more than a decade in motorsport journalist, working on Autosport, autosport.com, F1 Racing and Motorsport News, covering everything from club rallying to top-level international events. He also spent 18 months running Move Electric, Haymarket's e-mobility title, where he developed knowledge of the e-bike and e-scooter markets. 

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ianp55 24 October 2017

GM's Prospects

Doesn't look too good for The General does it,flogging off the European & South African operations,pulling the plug on manufacturing in Australia, closing down the Indian operation seems a bit short sighted as India must be one of the largest emerging markets in the world. It's very sad most of the other GM divisions that sold aero engines,buses,heavy trucks,railway locomotives plus a myriad of services has largely been sold off. GM is a husk of it's former self and the days of when it had half of the US car market are long gone,very sad

 

Thekrankis 24 October 2017

They can’t be that good....

...they never made it to Europe under Vauxhall / Opel brands....

aatbloke 25 October 2017

Thekrankis wrote:

Thekrankis wrote:

...they never made it to Europe under Vauxhall / Opel brands....

 

Which is completely irrelevant. The technology they employ is used across all of GM's brands.

aatbloke 25 October 2017

Thekrankis wrote:

Thekrankis wrote:

...they never made it to Europe under Vauxhall / Opel brands....

 

Which is completely irrelevant. The technology they employ is used across all of GM's brands.

Thekrankis 24 October 2017

Good Riddance

GM have been incompetant for years, churning out deadly dull, boring cars.

 

I do hope PSA manage to do something worthwhile with Vauxhall/Opel but I fear they will slowly close them down and maybe do a bit of re-badging.

 

 

aatbloke 24 October 2017

Thekrankis wrote:

Thekrankis wrote:

GM have been incompetant for years, churning out deadly dull, boring cars.

 

I do hope PSA manage to do something worthwhile with Vauxhall/Opel but I fear they will slowly close them down and maybe do a bit of re-badging.

 

 

 

I disagree. As an owner of an '18 Terrain Denali and '09 Suburban LTZ, and having driven plenty of their cars, I can assure you they make very competant, well-built and attractive vehicles.