Opel CEO Karl-Friedrich Stracke Abruptly Resigns

Beleaguered German automaker, Opel, announced Thursday that its CEO,Karl-Friedrich Stracke, had resigned from his position. He was the CEO of the European automaker since April 2011. Stracke also relinquished his position as the chairman of Opel's parent company, General Motors Europe.

GM Vice-Chairman Steve Girsky will take on Stracke's duties on an interim basis. General Motors (NYSE : GM) Chief Executive Dan Akerson failed to provide any convincing reason that led to Stracke's abrupt resignation only saying that Starcke had worked "tirelessly, under pressure, to stabilize the ailing company and we look forward to building on his success”.

Analyst believe that Stracke's inability to reverse the declining fortune of the company led to his resignation. Opal has incurred losses in the past decade that has run into billions. The company has raked up of about $16 billion in losses over the last twelve years. Efforts to close its loss making plant in Bochum, Germany has come to a naught thanks to stalled talks between labor unions and tough labor laws.

GM missed a golden chance to dispose its European operations in 2009, the year in which it filed for bankruptcy. The European assets that were considered strategic then has become an Albatross hanging around GM's neck. A simmering debt crisis in Europe which has badly affected its business mostly in southern Europe bolsters pessimism that things are unlikely to take a turn for the better for GM in near future.

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