For him the true power has changed hands

For many Europeans, Opel is a very distant cousin of General Motors. It is a German manufacturer. My first car, late 1970s, was an old blue Opel Kadett in 1965. Its handling was not flamboyant, but was rather solid and practical. A piece wise and no history of the European automotive industry. It is also like this that the designs Angela Merkel, whose Government has been to save this familiar brand, and especially its four factories and 55,000 employees on German soil (as well as in the rest of Europe). This is why, in exchange for social welfare promises that should be translated by a transfer in Germany currently conducted in Spain, Belgium or Britain productions, Berlin has led General Motors to give the keys of Opel to an Austrian adventurer of seventy-seven years, combined with a near Bank of the State.

Frank Stronach is a character out of the ordinary. Born September 6, 1932 in the Austrian province of Styria, in the confines of the Slovenia, he left school at fourteen and emigrated to the Canada to twenty-two. In 1957, he opened a small repair shop in the suburb of Toronto. It manufactures tools, for foundry moulds of and what customers are asking. And, in 1960, dedication, General Motors signed a contract for ties of vanity in large series.

Forty-five years later, Magna is the fourth global automotive manufacturer, with a turnover that exceeded the $ 23 billion in 2008. But why he decided a canonical age to start as risky adventure The criticism raining down since the announcement of the buyback. How can a manufacturer become constructor, and therefore compete with all of its customers Is the Russia the good horse on which build, while its economy collapsed Is there not already too many builders in Europe

Very pertinentes issues, including Frank Stronach to brace. Failed to build an empire out of nothing, the industrialist has a habit to go to his head. It is he who has chosen to diversify into all trades automobile, out of the sector aerospace and defence, and to engage in auto construction. Another foolish it was realized in 1998 with the purchase of the Austrian Steyr Daimler-Puch, which produces such large 4 x 4 for BMW, Mercedes and Chrysler. In 2007, it had even been candidate for the buyout of Chrysler.

But he was far more daring. Though he built his group, he has found a way, against the advice of all its shareholders, to become a tycoon of real estate, buying a lot of horse race fields in the US, to redeem the principal Vienna football club, chairing the Austrian National Federation. Balzacien character, it combines excessively disproportionate ambition, an ego oversized, autocratic personality (no Union nor Committee of enterprise in its factories) and true social concerns, but so 19th century. After the disaster of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he purchased land in Louisiana for a village of the poor of New Orleans families home. A "magnaville" (also called "canadaville"), this is the campaign, the work and not drugs, like labour communities at the end of the 19th century. On conflicts of interest, such as all the great men of affairs, he in fits very well. To the great despair of its shareholders. Owner of 5 of the group but 67 of the voting rights, he them swallow sacred pills. As for example the sale of the premises of the company to his own real estate firm, or the acquisition by Magna of the golf courses of his personal company (Magna Entertainment) on the grounds that this would be less expensive to organize meetings of executives... Not to mention the payment of mirobolant wages, more than 30 million per year, from the standards of the automobile profession.

Frank Stronach can all afford, if it displays cutting-edge results. Between 1990 and 2000, its turnover rose from 1 to 10 billion. And it has exceeded 20 billion in 2004. All this with a net profitability that oscillates between 3 and 5. At least until this year 2009, which saw the Group dive for the first time in red in the second quarter because of the collapse of its major clients like General Motors (21 of turnover), BMW (14) or Ford. The recipe is simple and perfectly suited to the job of subcontractor: decentralization. Instead of concentrating production in huge factories, it is instead spread in small units which operate as centers of profit with patterns, close to clients and often put in competition. In return for this pressure on productivity, quality and results, distribution of the benefits policy is generous.

It would therefore be insult his talent of contractor to assimilate the repurchase of Opel to a mere whim of (very) large child who have always dreamed of becoming car manufacturer. There is more. It is Carl - Peter Forster, President General Motors Europe and which should remain the honcho Opel after the buyout, which lifted a corner of the sailing week last to the Frankfurt ().

For him, the true power has changed hands. OEMs slave time is passing. Has the force of their assigned functions more and more sophisticated, builders are transfer technological capacity to their suppliers, which also means a transfer of profitability. Now, on-the-art equipment, the profitability of equipment suppliers is greater than mainstream manufacturers. Where, therefore, the future of the latter According to him, in their capacity to feel good trends, to establish good models and build their brand, rather than focus on productivity gains, cost management and even quality. "The difference between a good and a bad product is a difference of 10, 20 or 30 in the margin per vehicle."In other words, the product appeals to the consumer, its margin is strong.

For Carl - Peter Foster, the bet of Magna is not to become a builder, but use Opel, in partnership with the Russian gas (the manufacturer of the Volga) constructor, as a lever to enter this market. It includes only two major manufacturers mainstream local (AvtoVAZ and gas) and no OEM international to provide generalist manufacturers that install. The Russian market will not eternally depressed and its potential remains considerable. It lies the last dream of the old Stronach scribe: build up to 300 plants in Russia in the next ten years and thus double or triple its revenues. The conquest of Eastern Austrian fashion.