Nick Reilly takes the reins at Opel

General Motors executive vice president and the president of GM's International Operations, Nick Reilly (pictured), has been named the interim CEO of Opel/Vauxhall after its former chief, Carl-Peter Forster, quit the position on November 6th, 2009.

At the eleventh hour, when General Motors decided it would put forward a multi billion dollar plan to keep it's European operations in the form of Opel and Vauxhall, opinions were mixed.

General Motors made a long-term decision to keep the European brand which has been viewed as a positive by many analysts, but Magna Steyr, the German public and those who would have benefitted from its sale aren't quite as chuffed.

"As we announced last Tuesday, Opel/Vauxhall will remain a fully integrated member of the New GM family, a decision that is in the best interests of Opel/Vauxhall, its customers, employees, other stakeholders and GM," said Fritz Henderson, GM's president and CEO.

Carl-Peter Forster, the former CEO of GM Europe quit his position shortly after Detroit-based GM announced it would not sell Opel.

A former BMW executive, Forster was one of the chief negotiators of the deal between the German government, GM and the Austrian company Magna Steyr and its Russian backers to push the sale through.

British publication

His replacement, Nick Reilly, leaves his position as GM's chief of International Operations based in Shanghai.

"With his deep experience with the Opel and Vauxhall brands, Nick is well suited to lead this transition and to work toward the earliest possible normalisation of the business," explained Fritz Henderson, GM's head honcho.

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