GENEVA -- General Motors' diesel development center in Turin will be one of the company's few remaining European outposts once the sale of Opel and Vauxhall to PSA Group closes this year.
So, why keep it?
GM plans to use the center in part to handle Opel and PSA engineering services during the transition and for years afterward. "Torino will also continue the work it performs for GM's regions worldwide, including North and South America," said GM spokesman Tom Read.
At a media event last month in Detroit to introduce the Chevrolet Cruze diesel, Dan Nicholson, GM's vice president of global propulsion systems, told reporters that the Torino engineering center, born out of the ashes of the failed GM-Fiat powertrain alliance, employs some of the industry's most capable diesel engineers.
The 600 engineers there not only develop diesel engines, but also design, engineer, test and validate the emission-control equipment and write the software that governs the engines and emissions systems.