Opel Lives, VW Is Annoyed, Canadians Are Happy

Last week we got news that Canadian car parts giant Magna would purchase controlling interest in GM Germany's Opel. That pleased just about everybody. Nice German-designed, Belgian-built cars owned by a Canadian company. Now who could be annoyed about that?

Well, just when they thought their main competitor was toast, Volkswagen sees Magna ride over the hill like the Canadian cavalry to rescue Opel. If that wasn't horrible enough, Magna is one of VW's main suppliers. Autoblog opines that "'if Opel receives any preferential treatment over VW whatsoever, heads will roll."

One other tidbit: Magna intends to bring Opels to Canada by the end of the year. But not to the US. Of course we are already getting the Opel Astra as a Saturn (which has now been bought by Roger Penske), but Opel has a full line of cars. Not known yet: What dealers will carry Opels in Canada.