Anatomy of a Reversed Foreign Divestment Decision: General Motors and Its European Subsidiary, Opel.

Abstract

During this recent period of economic crisis and
rising unemployment, General Motors, the US multinational,
announced its decision to sell off Opel, its loss-making European
operations. Foreign divestment (FD) decisions are notoriously
secret, and often very controversial, arousing strong opposition.
Whilst such decisions are difficult to make, they are an essential
aspect of corporate international business strategy. Plant
closures that involve substantial lay-offs attract scrutiny from
governments and policy-makers. This paper explores the recent
major divestment proposals by these two global auto producers
and the subsequent negotiations with governments in the home
and host nations.