GM's impossible return to the European market
- The GM group was in its time the largest global carmaker until the early 2000s. It remained the leading American carmaker (the largest of the “Big Three”) but had to give up on the European market towards the end of the 2010s, when its Opel/Vauxhall subsidiary purchased in 1929 was sold to the French group PSA in 2017. The Chrysler group (the smallest of the “Big Three”) had already proceeded in the same way with the sale to PSA of its European subsidiaries since 1978, to then relaunch the brand Talbot in 1979.
- After 2017, the GM group maintained a symbolic presence in Europe with the Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette sports models, but at a confidential volume (200 sales per year).
- In 2023, the management of the GM group plans to return to Europe with completely new products. The old Chevrolets that came from Korea in the early 2000s did not leave good memories, GM management is now banking on Cadillac for its new offensive on the European market.
- Two factors played in favor of this decision: on one side, the perspective of a zero emission European market in 2035 and on the other side, the development of new American brands in Europe, such as Fisker, Lucid, Rivian and Tesla, which alone will capture a market share of nearly 3% in 2023. The GM group believes that its new battery electric models, and in particular those of the Cadillac brand, could find their customers in Europe thanks to their Premium image. However, the challenge seems extremely difficult because the Cadillac brand still has an outdated image in Europe.