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General Motors Europe (often abbreviated to GM Europe) is responsible for the operation of General Motors Corporation
General Motors

General Motors Corporation , founded in 1908, is the world's second-largest automaker after Toyota, ranked by 2008 global unit sales. GM was the global sales leader for 77 consecutive calendar years from 1931 to 2008....
 ("GM") businesses in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. The division was established by GM in 1986 and operates 11 production and assembly facilities in 8 countries, and employs around 64,500 people. GM's core European brands are Germany-based Opel
Opel

Adam Opel Gesellschaft mit beschr?nkter Haftung is a Germany automaker, part of General Motors.The company was founded on 21 January, 1863, and began making automobiles in 1899....
 and UK-based Vauxhall
Vauxhall Motors

Vauxhall Motors is a UK automobile company. It is a subsidiary of General Motors , and is part of GM Europe. Most current Vauxhall models are right-hand drive derivatives of GM's Opel brand....
, which sell much the same range of cars in different markets.






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General Motors Europe (often abbreviated to GM Europe) is responsible for the operation of General Motors Corporation
General Motors

General Motors Corporation , founded in 1908, is the world's second-largest automaker after Toyota, ranked by 2008 global unit sales. GM was the global sales leader for 77 consecutive calendar years from 1931 to 2008....
 ("GM") businesses in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. The division was established by GM in 1986 and operates 11 production and assembly facilities in 8 countries, and employs around 64,500 people. GM's core European brands are Germany-based Opel
Opel

Adam Opel Gesellschaft mit beschr?nkter Haftung is a Germany automaker, part of General Motors.The company was founded on 21 January, 1863, and began making automobiles in 1899....
 and UK-based Vauxhall
Vauxhall Motors

Vauxhall Motors is a UK automobile company. It is a subsidiary of General Motors , and is part of GM Europe. Most current Vauxhall models are right-hand drive derivatives of GM's Opel brand....
, which sell much the same range of cars in different markets. It also owns the Swedish marque Saab
Saab Automobile

Saab Automobile AB, better known as Saab, is a Swedish automaker and currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors. It is the exclusive automobile royal warrant holder as appointed by Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden....
. The U.S. brands Corvette
Chevrolet Corvette

The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car that has been manufactured by General Motors since 1953. The car was originally designed by Harley Earl, and named by Myron Scott after the fast corvette....
, Hummer
Hummer

Hummer is a brand of off-road vehicles sold by General Motors . The original H1 was based on the military High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle ....
 and Cadillac
Cadillac

Cadillac is a luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors. Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, mainly in the United States, Canada, and Mexico....
 are imported into Europe in small quantities, and vehicles from GM's Korean subsidiary Daewoo
Daewoo

Daewoo was a major South Korean chaebol . It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was dismantled by the Korean government in 1999....
 are sold in Europe rebadged as Chevrolet
Chevrolet

Chevrolet is a brand of automobile, produced by General Motors . It is the top selling GM marque, with "Chevrolet" or "Chevy" being at times synonymous with GM....
s.

Overview

In Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, GM operates 11 vehicle production and assembly facilities in eight countries and employs around 64,500* people. Many additional directly related jobs are provided by some 8,700 independent sales and service outlets. In 2005 GM's market share in Europe was 9.4%.

History

General Motors
General Motors

General Motors Corporation , founded in 1908, is the world's second-largest automaker after Toyota, ranked by 2008 global unit sales. GM was the global sales leader for 77 consecutive calendar years from 1931 to 2008....
 entered the European market only three years after the company's foundation in 1908. This involved the construction of Chevrolet
Chevrolet

Chevrolet is a brand of automobile, produced by General Motors . It is the top selling GM marque, with "Chevrolet" or "Chevy" being at times synonymous with GM....
 cars in Denmark
Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....
 in 1923 and Belgium
Belgium

* A small German-speaking Community of Belgium exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political and cultural conflicts are reflected in the history of Belgium and a complex Communities and regions of Belgium....
 in 1925. This involvement was greatly expanded by the acquisitions of Vauxhall
Vauxhall Motors

Vauxhall Motors is a UK automobile company. It is a subsidiary of General Motors , and is part of GM Europe. Most current Vauxhall models are right-hand drive derivatives of GM's Opel brand....
 in 1925 and Opel
Opel

Adam Opel Gesellschaft mit beschr?nkter Haftung is a Germany automaker, part of General Motors.The company was founded on 21 January, 1863, and began making automobiles in 1899....
 in Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 in 1929.

In 1986 GM officially inaugurated the GM Europe division.

The same year, GM bought Lotus
Lotus Cars

File:Final assembly.jpgLotus Cars is a United Kingdom manufacturer of sports car and race car automobiles based at Hethel, Norfolk, England. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and high Car handling characteristics....
 group in England and seven years later, on 27 August 1993, GM sold the company for £30 million to owners of Bugatti
Bugatti

Bugatti was founded in Molsheim, France, as a car maker by Ettore Bugatti, an Italian people man described as an eccentric genius.The original company is legendary for producing some of the most exclusive cars in the world as well as some of the fastest....
. GM acquired a 50 percent stake in Saab
Saab

Saab AB is an aerospace and defense company based in Sweden....
 of Sweden
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
 in 1989, taking full ownership in 2000. General Motors also developed a partnership with and acquired a stake in Fiat
Fiat

Fiat S.p.A. Fiat based cars are constructed all around the world?the largest concern outside Italy is in Brazil . It also has factories in Argentina and Poland....
 in 2000. GM divested its minority equity interests and dissolved the partnership in 2005, following a legal fight regarding the conditions of a put option
Put option

A put option is a finance contract between two parties, the seller and the buyer of the option . The buyer acquires a long position offering the right, but not obligation, to sell the underlying instrument at an agreed-upon price ....
 afforded Fiat.

See also

  • General Motors
    General Motors

    General Motors Corporation , founded in 1908, is the world's second-largest automaker after Toyota, ranked by 2008 global unit sales. GM was the global sales leader for 77 consecutive calendar years from 1931 to 2008....
  • Opel
    Opel

    Adam Opel Gesellschaft mit beschr?nkter Haftung is a Germany automaker, part of General Motors.The company was founded on 21 January, 1863, and began making automobiles in 1899....
  • Saab
    Saab Automobile

    Saab Automobile AB, better known as Saab, is a Swedish automaker and currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors. It is the exclusive automobile royal warrant holder as appointed by Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden....
  • Vauxhall
    Vauxhall Motors

    Vauxhall Motors is a UK automobile company. It is a subsidiary of General Motors , and is part of GM Europe. Most current Vauxhall models are right-hand drive derivatives of GM's Opel brand....
  • Bedford
    Bedford Vehicles

    Bedford was a subsidiary of Vauxhall Motors, itself the United Kingdom subsidiary of General Motors , established in 1930 and constructing commercial vehicles....


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