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By Graham Ruddick
Nick Reilly, 59, who headed GM's Asian businesses until he took control of Opel and Vauxhall in January, said European and American automotive companies faced a fierce battle to remain competitive and were at risk of being overtaken by Chinese and Korean manufacturers.
"Their rate of progress in terms of technology, innovation and quality improvements is really remarkable and we are totally underestimating the technological advances they are making. The gap has completely shrunk. It is a tenth of what it was and a quarter of what we expected it to be. I think everybody thought we had 10 or 15 years before China became competitive, and that is just not true.
"But the general political climate is that these guys must be cheating and we need to get more protectionist, rather than actually admitting what is happening. Generally I think there is a complacency or a refusal to accept the huge economic shift there has been."
The GM Europe boss, a former chairman of Vauxhall and plant manager at its Ellesmere Port and Luton sites, was speaking in an interview just days after the UK Government confirmed it would provide a £270m loan guarantee to help safeguard the future of Vauxhall.
China set to target Europe's car market
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