New Opel CEO Dr. Thomas Sedran.
General Motors is continuing a massive shake-up at its money-losing European operations as part of a broader turnaround plan.
The latest move puts board member Thomas Sedran in charge of Opel while two other executives with the German-based brand are being replaced.
Sedran, who had been serving as the deputy chairman of the Opel board is a turnaround specialist who previously worked with Detroit’s AlixPartners a consulting firm that played a major role in GM’s 2009 bankruptcy. He also led the automotive competitive analysis operations for the Roland Berger consultancy.
With a PhD from Ludwig Maximilian University, Sedran replaces Karl-Friedrich Stracke as Opel’s CEO. Stracke was yanked from that post after less than a year and will be handling “special assignments” for GM Chairman and Chief Executive Dan Akerson.
Sedran will report directly to Steve Girsky, the former Wall Street auto analyst who came onboard at GM following its bankruptcy as the maker’s Vice Chairman. Girsky, who has been serving as chairman of the Opel board was put in charge as CEO of GM of Europe last week.
The musical chairs are the result of the increasingly dire situation at Opel which has now run up a dozen years of consecutive losses – and which may go as much as $2 billion more into the red for all of 2012, the maker has warned.
The situation has also claimed Mark James, the Opel Chief Financial Officer being replaced by Michael Lohscheller, who had been CFO for Volkswagen’s U.S. operations. And Rita Forst, Opel’s R&D chief, has resigned. She will be replaced by Michael Abelson.
According to Girsky, the latest personnel changes, “will further accelerate the plan to revitalize Opel.”
The maker has also laid out plans to trim production capacity and reduce labor costs – though those steps will take several years to implement, the company stressed.
GM’s losses have now come to $14 billion in Europe over the last 12 years. And the second-quarter loss – due to be released on August 3 – could be larger than expected, a number of analysts now warn.