Corporate bits | Shangri-la confirmed for Melbourne’s development

Malaysian property developer, S P Setia Berhad Group and Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts announced yesterday that the Shangri-La hotel will be central to the planned landmark development in Melbourne’s central business district.

The hotel will be a two-tower development located at 308 Exhibition Street, overlooking Melbourne’s world heritage-listed Carlton Gardens.

According to a press release by Shangri-La, the hotel will feature an estimated 500 guest rooms with three levels of amenities including a sky lobby, fitness center and pool among others. The second tower will include around 200 residential apartments as well as office space.

A sky bridge will connect the two towers and retail space will occupy the lower levels of the development. The project is expected to be completed in 2022.

Opel CEO steps down ahead of sale to French rival

Opel manager Karl-Thomas Neumann

The head of France’s PSA Group, the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, says his goal is to see Opel make money by 2020 — but he’ll be doing it without Opel’s CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann.

Neumann is stepping down ahead of the completion of the unit’s sale by General Motors to PSA.

Opel said in a statement that Neumann was leaving his post as CEO immediately but would remain a member of top Opel management until the sale goes through. Neumann was replaced by the chief financial officer, Michael Lohscheller.

The company said Lohscheller’s appointment would “ensure continuity” and a “seamless managerial transition” as Opel builds a new strategic plan for its future under PSA Group ownership. PSA Group CEO Carlos Tavares was quoted as saying by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily that Opel had to become profitable by 2020 in order to generate the cash needed to invest in new models, markets and ideas. The goal is to have Opel reach PSA’s levels of profitability — 6 percent operating profit margins — by 2026.

Tavares stressed that Opel needed to remain a German brand, and likewise with its right-hand-drive Vauxhall models sold in Britain. “The more German Opel is, and perceived to be, and the more British the sister company Vauxhall is, the more they complement our brands Peugeot, Citroen and DS,” he was quoted as saying.