Barriers to Entry: GM, Opel, GAZ

Later today General Motors will unveil its plans for its ailing Germany subsidiary, Opel. According to an article published last month, both government policy and fear of intensifying rivalry have played a role in the decision. Last year there was a plan to sell Opel to the Russian automaker GAZ.  But GM's hesitancy and eventual bankruptcy scuttled the deal. The new worry is that "that future auto designs could wind up with Russian rival GAZ, which competes with GM's Chevrolet, the No. 2 brand in a growing Russian market." Government policy looms large in the decision. 

• "...the German government, eager to preserve many of Russelsheim -based Opel's 25,000 German jobs in an election year, has offered 4.5 billion euros in credit" in support of a takeover by Canadian Magna International and Russian Sberbank. 

• "...both Sberbank and GAZ, maker of the Volga sedan, have strong ties to the Russian government, which has made no secret of its desire to help its ailing and outdated auto industry."