Former Opel boss O’Byrne was driven to distraction by his General Motors bosses
But despite leading Opel back to the top of the sales charts and supporting the Jack Charlton-managed team that qualified for two World Cups and a European Championship, O’Byrne fought daily with the powers that be within General Motors, the American owners of the Opel brand.
In a new book, Shenanigans — Lifting the Lid on General Motors, O’Byrne highlights a corporate culture that, he says, is why the conglomerate is fending off allegations of mismanagement with the recall this week of 8.5m cars due to faulty ignition switches. This could cost the company $1.2bn.
“In my time with GM, there were many aspects of the day-to-day business which did not sit well with me ethically,” he says. “So, when I was made MD of the Irish operation, there were many things I did which rebounded on me from a corporate point of view.
“This current wiring scandal, which has rocked the company in recent months, actually reminded me of something which happened here in Ireland, which I rectified and which I was severely taken to task for afterwards,” O’Byrne says.
A new Opel Corsa went on fire, for no apparent reason, distressing its female owner. O’Byrne acted quickly to prevent a PR disaster.
“The first thing I did was call to the woman’s house with a bunch of flowers and apologise to her personally.
“I also promised to repay all the money she had spent on the car. In both instances, I was subsequently hauled over the coals, because the American corporate culture simply did not understand Irish culture and the way things get done here.
“Then, I went down to Tivoli, in Cork, where we imported all our cars and I suspended deliveries of all Corsas, until we got to the bottom of what had happened to cause the fire. I travelled to Germany to investigate it further and discovered there was a problem with the wiring design, when the cars were built to right-hand-drive specification. We solved the problem and probably saved the company a fortune.
“But when my senior management discovered I had suspended deliveries, I was told that I had overstepped my responsibilities and had acted contrary to company policy. I had done the right thing by the customers and the company, and yet I was chastised for it,” he says.
The woman concerned became a solid Opel customer, but this was of little concern to the top brass.
What was of concern to them was that O’Byrne had stepped outside their game plan.
The man responsible for the phrase ‘Opel — Ireland’s number one supporter’ says Ireland, as an island nation, was never of too much concern to the powers-that-be in Europe or America.
“Yes, generally they left me alone to do my own thing and that was the saving grace for me,” he says.
“But the trouble was that no matter how successful you were in rebuilding the brand or selling cars, they never really paid any attention and you certainly never got any thanks.
“There was a lot of corporate bullying going on and a lot of dishonesty and disrespect, too, and I saw a lot of it at first-hand. I remember only too well what happened to the workers at (GM subsidiary) Packard Electric in Tallaght, for example.”
In that case, GM heavyweights arrived in Dublin and made several promises to the workforce about keeping the plant open when, in fact, they were intent on closing it down. Indeed, throughout his book O’Byrne highlights many instances in which duplicity, and not honesty, were the order of the day.
It may well be that O’Byrne’s tenure as Opel boss in Ireland will be historically defined by his decision to sponsor the Irish soccer team — something he says was more about luck than judgement, “but if you don’t buy the ticket, you don’t win the lotto”.
The tough-talking Ringsend native has a lot more than that to reminisce about in his memoir.
Anyone interested in the machinations of management within a global automotive powerhouse would do well to seek out his book.
