General Motors is selling its unprofitable European car business to the French maker of Peugeot, marking the American company’s retreat from a major market and raising concerns of job cuts in the region.
With the 2.2 billion euro (S$2.33 billion) deal, GM is walking away from brands—Opel in Germany and Vauxhall in Britain—that have given it a foothold in the world’s third-largest auto market since the 1920s. They have not, however, made a combined profit in the past 18 years despite multiple turnaround efforts.
