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2019 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

5. General Motors in Belgium

Author : A. J. Jacobs

Published in: The Automotive Industry and European Integration

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

This chapter chronicles GM’s history in Belgium beginning with its three small pre-World War II assembly warehouses near Antwerp’s city center. It then focuses on the American automaker’s Noorderlaan-1 and Noorderlaan-2 factories, the latter of which unexpectedly closed its doors at the Port of Antwerp’s Churchill Docks on December 15, 2010. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of General Motors’ exiting of Europe through the sale of its Opel/Vauxhall assets to PSA Peugeot Citroen of France in 2017.

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Footnotes
1
WSJ (1924); GME (2001–2009); GM (2005); Wernle (2008), GM Belgium (2010); Fourie (2016); Jacobs (2017); the original Berlin plant was in the city’s Wittenau ortsteil (district), but by the end of that year GM had moved to a bigger plant in Berlin’s Borsigwalde district. Both are situated within the city’s present-day Reinickendorf bezirke (borough).
 
2
Ibid.
 
3
Ibid.
 
4
GM (2005); GM Belgium (2010).
 
5
Ibid.
 
6
AP (1928); Fourie (2016).
 
7
New York Times (1929); GM (2005); GM Belgium (2010); Jacobs (2017). In 1931, GM purchased Opel’s remaining 24% share.
 
8
New York Times (1935); GM (2005); GM Belgium (2010); Fourie (2016); Jacobs (2017).
 
9
Ibid.
 
10
GM Belgium (2010); Fourie (2016); Opel Belgium (2019).
 
11
AP (1965); Jones (1965); O’Toole (1965); Reuters (1965); Cook (1967); GM Belgium (2010); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
12
Ibid.
 
13
Ibid.
 
14
GM Belgium (2010); Opel Belgium (2019).
 
15
Ibid.
 
16
AP (1973); Halloran (1973); Smith (1973); Eder (1973); Reuters (1973).
 
17
GM Belgium (2010); Belgium (2017–2018); Opel Belgium (2019).
 
18
Ibid.
 
19
Ibid.
 
20
Ibid.
 
21
Ibid.
 
22
Ibid.
 
23
Bloomberg News (1997); GME (2001–2009); GM Belgium (2010); Belgium (2017–2018). The manufacture of car bodies and other components for the Vectra B continued in Antwerp until December 2002.
 
24
GME (2001–2009); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
25
GME (2001–2009); Fuhrmans (2009b); GM Belgium (2010); BBC (2012); Jacobs (2017); Opel Belgium (2019).
 
26
Burt (1999); GM Belgium (2010); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
27
GM (2003); GM Belgium (2010); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
28
English (2004); GM Belgium (2010); Belgium (2017–2018); Opel Belgium (2019).
 
29
Ward’s (1956–2018); GME (2001–2009); English (2004); Gow (2004); Knox (2004); GM Belgium (2010).
 
30
Dribbusch (2005); Landler (2005); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
31
Ibid.
 
32
GME (2001–2009); GM (2009): GM Belgium (2010); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
33
Bunkley (2006); GM Belgium (2010).
 
34
IHS Markit (2007); White and Power (2007); GM Belgium (2010); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
35
IHS Markit (2007); White and Power (2007); GM Belgium (2010); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
36
Ibid.
 
37
WSJ (2007, 2008); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
38
GME (2001–2009); GM (2009); GM Belgium (2010).
 
39
Ward’s (1956–2018); Dash and Bajaj (2008); St. Louis Business Journal (2008); GM (2009); Jacobs (2017).
 
40
Ward’s (1956–2018); Jacobs (2016).
 
41
Cimilluca (2009); Dougherty (2009a).
 
42
Ward’s (1956–2018); Dougherty (2009b); Jacobs (2016).
 
43
Ward’s (1956–2018); Kim and Lawder (2010); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
44
Buck (2009a); Dougherty (2009b); Walker and MacDonald (2009); GM Belgium (2010).
 
45
Dougherty (2009b); Jacobs (2016); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
46
Brenke et al. (2011); Belgium (2017–2018); Germany (2017).
 
47
Ibid.
 
48
Ho (2009); Rauwald (2009a, b); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
49
Buck (2009a, b); Fuhrmans (2009a, b); Maynard (2009); New York Times (2009); Reeds et al. (2009); Stoll and Fuhrmans (2009).
 
50
Fuhrmans (2009a); Rauwald and Bjork (2009).
 
51
Fuhrmans (2009a); Popa (2009); Rauwald and Bjork (2009); GM Belgium (2010).
 
52
Buck (2009a); Madslien (2009); Rauwald and Bjork (2009); Stoll et al. (2009); GM Belgium (2010).
 
53
Buck (2009b); Jolly and Dempsey (2009); Madslien (2009); Popa (2009); Stoll et al. (2009).
 
54
Fuhrmans (2009c); GM Belgium (2010).
 
55
Jolly and Dempsey (2009); Stoll et al. (2009).
 
56
Terlep and Stoll (2009); Fuhrmans and Rauwald (2010); GM Belgium (2010); Jolly (2010); Opel (2010–2018).
 
57
Fuhrmans and Rauwald (2010); GM Belgium (2010); Popa (2010); Rauwald (2010); Ewing (2012).
 
58
Bailey (2010); Flanders Today (2010); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
59
DeMorgen (2010); Rauwald (2010); Opel (2010–2018); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
60
Ward’s (1956–2018); Opel (2010–2018); Jacobs (2016, 2017); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
61
Ibid.
 
62
Ibid.
 
63
Opel (2010–2018); Ewing (2012); McVeigh (2013); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
64
Hope (2014); Belgium (2017–2018).
 
65
Automotive News (2017); Belgium (2017–2018); Frost and Taylor (2017); Tobin (2017).
 
66
Ibid.
 
67
Belgium (2017–2018); Antwerp (2018).
 
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Metadata
Title
General Motors in Belgium
Author
A. J. Jacobs
Copyright Year
2019
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17431-6_5