:00:07. > :00:09.This is Business Live from BBC News with Sally Bundock
:00:10. > :00:11.A European car colossus in the making.
:00:12. > :00:13.France's Peugeot-Citroen is buying General Motors' European business,
:00:14. > :00:16.including the Opel and Vauxhall brands, for $2.3 billion.
:00:17. > :00:34.Live from London, that's our top story on Monday 6 March.
:00:35. > :00:37.Two car giants come together but is today's deal
:00:38. > :00:43.a sign of things to come for the European autos industry?
:00:44. > :00:49.What does it mean for jobs and the choice of vehicles on the road? We
:00:50. > :00:52.will be getting an expert view. China's Premier cuts the economic
:00:53. > :00:56.growth target for this year. We look at the risks to the world's
:00:57. > :01:05.second largest economy. And the European trading week has
:01:06. > :01:09.begun. All the main markets are headed south. In Germany, Deutsche
:01:10. > :01:12.Bank shares are pulling down that market.
:01:13. > :01:16.We'll speak to the boss of a company bringing the likes of Hozier
:01:17. > :01:21.and Bastille straight to your living room.
:01:22. > :01:27.Today we want to know, as more car brands consolidate, does it matter
:01:28. > :01:29.which badges on the back of your car? Is there enough choice in the
:01:30. > :01:48.car market? Do get in touch with your thoughts
:01:49. > :01:55.on this story. Our top story today. General Motors, as was widely
:01:56. > :02:01.expected is selling Opel and Vauxhall
:02:02. > :02:02.General Motors will sell Opel
:02:03. > :02:05.the French company that owns Peugeot and Citroen.
:02:06. > :02:10.As we speak, both companies are hosting a press
:02:11. > :02:13.Buying GM's loss-making European operations will make PSA
:02:14. > :02:15.the continent's second-biggest car maker after Volkswagen and ahead
:02:16. > :02:20.Last year, PSA and GM Europe sold a combined 4.3 million
:02:21. > :02:28.vehicles and posted revenues of $75.9 billion.
:02:29. > :02:32.But the deal has already raised fears in the UK the jobs of 4,500
:02:33. > :02:42.workers at Vauxhall's plants could be under threat.
:02:43. > :02:45.In Germany, where two-thirds of Opel's 38,000 staff
:02:46. > :02:47.are based the Government has been seeking reassurances
:02:48. > :02:51.Opel had hoped to return to profitability by 2016,
:02:52. > :02:53.but the slide in the value of sterling following the EU
:02:54. > :02:57.referendum last June contributed to its 272 million
:02:58. > :03:08.With me is Jim Holder, Editorial Director of Autocar.
:03:09. > :03:12.So, is this a good deal for PSA given that GM has been losing money
:03:13. > :03:24.there are a lot of questions because of the $15 billion loss since 2000.
:03:25. > :03:29.Most people are realising that PSA seems to have a very good deal on
:03:30. > :03:32.their hands. If they can leverage the scale they are going to create
:03:33. > :03:36.through this deal, they could turn the business ran very quickly. It
:03:37. > :03:40.was on the cusp of making a profit last year and think they can make a
:03:41. > :03:50.proper bishop was it could turn into a very good deal very quickly. Will
:03:51. > :03:52.it be a good deal for workers? Could be factories right across Europe
:03:53. > :03:58.under this group. There have been real concerns about jobs. In the UK
:03:59. > :04:02.it has been stated jobs might be more safe following a post Brexit
:04:03. > :04:09.world. There are around 20 factories in all Europe, two in the UK. They
:04:10. > :04:12.all need to prove their competitiveness. They are all
:04:13. > :04:18.underperforming and are being underused as they will have to
:04:19. > :04:21.rationalise what they have. In a hard Brexit situation, where there
:04:22. > :04:27.to be tariffs on goods, he could gain an advantage by having a
:04:28. > :04:30.factory here. Certainly the market share of Peugeot, such in and
:04:31. > :04:38.Vauxhall would be around 400,000 cars and could keep a factory
:04:39. > :04:42.running very effectively. -- citron. Would there be less choice for
:04:43. > :04:48.consumers? In all likelihood, probably not. There will be more
:04:49. > :04:52.choice of engines and body stars because they would utilise the same
:04:53. > :04:57.parts in different cars. They will have different bodies and different
:04:58. > :05:04.badges on the cards, much like the Boxall group has done very
:05:05. > :05:11.successfully for many years. What has happened regarding pensions? GM
:05:12. > :05:18.has effectively agreed to carry on but burden of the pensions. Those
:05:19. > :05:22.that transferred to it is agreed to put in 3 billion euros as a payment
:05:23. > :05:26.to cover them. PSA comes away without any real liability for the
:05:27. > :05:31.pension transfer. Very briefly, why did GM want to off-load this group
:05:32. > :05:43.if PSA can see a bright future for it? They are talking very clearly
:05:44. > :05:48.about agility. Opel was a small part of it. It was constrained. PSA sees
:05:49. > :05:54.a way of unleashing the potential, investing in and making something of
:05:55. > :06:00.as a result. Thank you a much for talking to us. It is all about the
:06:01. > :06:03.timing. The Geneva motor show gets under way in earnest and so these
:06:04. > :06:08.two companies wanted to make that announcement ahead of that. We saw
:06:09. > :06:15.live riches of the ongoing press conference in Paris. Let's go onto
:06:16. > :06:18.other news. Deutsche Bank plans to raise
:06:19. > :06:21.about $8.5bn by issuing new shares. The share sale by the troubled
:06:22. > :06:24.German bank is part The bank will partially
:06:25. > :06:27.float its asset management business and retain Postbank -
:06:28. > :06:29.the retail banking business it had Deutsche will be reorganised around
:06:30. > :06:42.three divisions: private banking and wealth management,
:06:43. > :06:44.asset management, and corporate Germany's biggest bank is trying
:06:45. > :06:48.to reshape itself after grappling with huge losses and nearly
:06:49. > :06:50.$16bn in legal fines imposed The US is suspending a fast track
:06:51. > :06:55.service often used by technology companies to recruit
:06:56. > :06:57.foreign skilled workers. The H-1B visa is issued to tens
:06:58. > :07:00.of thousands of highly skilled Currently, companies can pay
:07:01. > :07:05.extra to get the visas But starting in April,
:07:06. > :07:08.this process will be That is following some of the
:07:09. > :07:25.changes made by President Trump. Aberdeen asset management and
:07:26. > :07:30.standard life have agreed terms for a merger. It will create one of the
:07:31. > :07:35.UK's largest fund managers with assets of $810 billion. Let's talk
:07:36. > :07:39.about China. China's national people's congress
:07:40. > :07:40.convened this weekend in Beijing's Great Hall
:07:41. > :07:42.of the People. The 3,000-strong event is staged
:07:43. > :07:44.each year by the party, and is a forum to rubber stamp
:07:45. > :07:50.legislature for the year ahead. But China's economy is struggling,
:07:51. > :07:54.and in Premier Li's annual report he gave some clues
:07:55. > :08:08.about the year ahead. He talked specifically about growth
:08:09. > :08:13.in China. That is really a key factor that many market watchers are
:08:14. > :08:20.keen to find out just how well, or not so well, China is performing.
:08:21. > :08:24.That is right. 6.5% would be the kind of growth rate many economies
:08:25. > :08:30.elsewhere would die for. You are right. In the Chinese context, it is
:08:31. > :08:36.another sign of slowing growth. We are a long way from the era of
:08:37. > :08:41.double digit economic expansion. To some extent this is all planned, all
:08:42. > :08:47.to be expected. China is supposedly going through this economic
:08:48. > :08:51.transition, weaning itself of the old, government-sponsored growth
:08:52. > :08:56.based on investment and exports to one based on a consumer economy,
:08:57. > :08:59.consumer spending. The real worrying thing is it has not yet shown any
:09:00. > :09:03.sign of being able to wean itself off the large amount of borrowing
:09:04. > :09:09.that is still needed to grow this economy. In fact, as the economy
:09:10. > :09:14.grows by 6% to 7% year, debt is growing by double that amount. That
:09:15. > :09:18.is very troubling to some observers. In the opening address to the
:09:19. > :09:22.parliament, we heard the premier talk once again about tackling state
:09:23. > :09:26.owned enterprises, cutting overcapacity, and we have heard the
:09:27. > :09:29.finance ministry took that getting on top of local government
:09:30. > :09:33.borrowing. All of these thorny issues. They have spoken about all
:09:34. > :09:39.of these things before and they are proving very difficult promises to
:09:40. > :09:43.fulfil. Thank you indeed. That news out of China was so important for
:09:44. > :09:51.markets in Asia today. Also what was happening when the smart kits that
:09:52. > :10:01.is the markets was -- these markets work trading where the missile
:10:02. > :10:04.tests. We had the chief of the US Federal reserve, the central bank,
:10:05. > :10:10.talking late yesterday for that many were reading between the lines as to
:10:11. > :10:14.what it means regarding the Fed meeting next week. Most believe we
:10:15. > :10:18.are looking at a rate rise in the US next week is all that was going on
:10:19. > :10:23.in the Asian trading session. Let's have a look at Europe right now put
:10:24. > :10:28.as I speak, we are watching press conference in Paris. The boss of GM
:10:29. > :10:35.and PSA group, all talking to the press. The Peugeot shares are up and
:10:36. > :10:40.up. Deutsche Bank shares are down some 6% of the back of their news. A
:10:41. > :10:42.lot for investors to die just. We will talk more about these stories
:10:43. > :10:44.in a moment. And Michelle Fleury has
:10:45. > :10:55.the details about what's ahead There is expected to be an interest
:10:56. > :10:59.rate hike in March. Only the third since the height of the recession.
:11:00. > :11:07.The next meeting is in a week and a half. Between now and then, the big
:11:08. > :11:10.economic report is non-farm payrolls. It is unlikely to change
:11:11. > :11:15.the outlook on the economy unless it is really bad. Most expect the
:11:16. > :11:20.latest snapshot of the labour market to show employers added 186,000 jobs
:11:21. > :11:24.in February for the given the recent surge in business and consumer
:11:25. > :11:28.confidence, as well as a rise in inflation, the Fed is accepted to
:11:29. > :11:33.raise interest rates sooner rather than later. Wall Street is now
:11:34. > :11:44.wondering how many more rate increases to expect this year. As
:11:45. > :11:46.for the rest of the calendar, the economic calendar this week, Monday
:11:47. > :11:47.sees the release of data on factory orders while the earnings front is
:11:48. > :11:49.relatively quiet. Joining us is David Buik
:11:50. > :11:57.from Panmure Gordon. Thank you for coming in. Let's first
:11:58. > :12:02.of all talk about Deutsche Bank. It is going to try and raise billions
:12:03. > :12:05.through a new rights issue. Do you think these new shares will be
:12:06. > :12:10.attractive to investors, given the trouble is that Deutsche Bank has
:12:11. > :12:13.been facing? You would like to think the chief executive has shaken all
:12:14. > :12:20.the skeletons out of the cupboard. There are plenty of them. If you go
:12:21. > :12:26.back eight years to 2007, just prior to the financial crisis, Deutsche
:12:27. > :12:30.Bank shares worth 120 euros each will stop them down now to 17 and a
:12:31. > :12:38.half after the fall. That is enormous. Deutsche Bank has always
:12:39. > :12:42.been where it required Morgan Grenfell, after they shared the
:12:43. > :12:47.asset management business, they were the biggest traders or investment
:12:48. > :12:50.bank in the world in terms of derivatives. Not like Goldman Sachs.
:12:51. > :12:54.The trouble is they got too big and forgot what a bank is really four,
:12:55. > :12:58.which is to have money from deposits and to lend money. As things have
:12:59. > :13:02.unfolded since the financial crisis, they have had one catastrophic
:13:03. > :13:07.problem after another. As you alluded to, I cannot remember which
:13:08. > :13:13.one of you it was, 15 billion euros worth of fines, whether it is for
:13:14. > :13:18.foreign exchange, gold, cross frontier bond dealing, this is the
:13:19. > :13:23.problem. He has shaken the trees and is selling the asset management
:13:24. > :13:29.business. I think that is a mistake. He is going to do what he should do,
:13:30. > :13:33.which is take the emphasis away from investment banking and more to
:13:34. > :13:37.domestic. The same is happening with Barclays on a much smaller scale.
:13:38. > :13:41.Another story which has been out there over the weekend and confirmed
:13:42. > :13:46.today, standard life Aberdeen asset management teaming up. Quite a bit
:13:47. > :13:51.of money coming together. Your thoughts? It makes a lot of sense. I
:13:52. > :13:56.should think Nicola Sturgeon is smiling like a Cheshire cat. That is
:13:57. > :14:08.the head of the Scottish National party just in case people are not
:14:09. > :14:18.familiar. The chief executives, a top man and another who is at the
:14:19. > :14:21.forefront of the media. Putting the two of them together, and their
:14:22. > :14:25.basic emphasis on where they are strong makes a lot of sense. Both
:14:26. > :14:29.shows are at between 8% and 10% this morning for the Eid think the market
:14:30. > :14:35.likes the idea of the merger. A busy day. A lot of news going on. We will
:14:36. > :14:44.see you again in about five minutes. He will return. Still to come...
:14:45. > :14:48.We'll speak to the boss of a company bringing the likes of Hozier
:14:49. > :14:50.and Bastille straight to your living room.
:14:51. > :14:55.It is relieved to discourage people from using their smartphones and not
:14:56. > :14:58.giving the respect to bands are used to do. We will have that discussion
:14:59. > :15:02.in a moment. It's National Apprenticeship Week
:15:03. > :15:07.and a new report out today says 1.5 million degree level
:15:08. > :15:09.apprenticeships are needed to boost The Chartered Management Institute
:15:10. > :15:14.are calling them the "missing middle" and are calling employers
:15:15. > :15:21.to use higher level apprenticeships to improve gender diversity
:15:22. > :15:33.Petra Wilton is from the CMI. How should this be done? How do we
:15:34. > :15:35.encourage more women to achieve those positions? It is a wonderful
:15:36. > :15:39.coincidence that we have got coincidence that we have got
:15:40. > :15:42.national apprenticeship week and international women's day.
:15:43. > :15:47.Apprenticeships go up to the highest levels. There is Masters being
:15:48. > :15:50.developed and at degree level we see a chartered management degree ablend
:15:51. > :15:56.tisship which out of the 250 early starts half of those are women which
:15:57. > :16:01.is really encouraging progress. As you led, we need 1.5 million female
:16:02. > :16:06.managers at that middle by 2025 if we're going to get a better balanced
:16:07. > :16:11.workforce and have gender parity. What needs to be done? Companies
:16:12. > :16:14.need to invest better in promoting women through the ranks in their
:16:15. > :16:22.organisations. We see a classic pyramid. Women enter the workforce
:16:23. > :16:28.equal to men, so they're 50/50 so but thee peter out. And single
:16:29. > :16:32.digits when we look at the number of female Chief Executives at those top
:16:33. > :16:36.companies. But that's to do with the pregnant pause, isn't it? That's to
:16:37. > :16:40.do with women having children? That can have an impact, but for many
:16:41. > :16:43.women they are not taking much time out and apprenticeships which are
:16:44. > :16:46.all age means it can give women the confidence and the route back into
:16:47. > :16:50.the workforce. Why should women not have a career after having children
:16:51. > :16:56.and coming back in? Apprenticeships can be used used an all-age
:16:57. > :17:00.programme to upskill the women and give them the confidence to rejoin
:17:01. > :17:05.their organisations and take their careers forward. Petra, thank you
:17:06. > :17:11.very much. No doubt there will be more information about that National
:17:12. > :17:23.Apprenticeship Week. We're covering that deal, PSA to buy GM's Opal
:17:24. > :17:27.business. There is a lot of reaction on the Business Live site. Lots of
:17:28. > :17:30.speculation about what is going to be happening to jobs. Thousands of
:17:31. > :17:37.jobs at stake. We will be following that story. You're watching Business
:17:38. > :17:46.Our top story, General Motors will sell Opel
:17:47. > :17:49.and Vauxhall to PSA Group, the French company that owns
:17:50. > :17:58.The deal is worth $2.3 billion and will make PSA the continent's
:17:59. > :18:00.second biggest car-maker after Volkswagen and ahead
:18:01. > :18:06.Now let's get the inside track on a business which is hoping
:18:07. > :18:09.to return music back to its most stripped down form.
:18:10. > :18:11.In the age of streaming and social media, it's easy
:18:12. > :18:13.to become disillusioned with the commercial music industry.
:18:14. > :18:17.One company hoping to change this is Sofar Sounds.
:18:18. > :18:18.It provides small-scale gigs in secret locations such
:18:19. > :18:24.as converted warehouses and even people's living rooms.
:18:25. > :18:26.They're in over 300 cities around the world
:18:27. > :18:34.The company's co-founder Rafe Offer joins us in the studio now.
:18:35. > :18:42.Hello there. Thank you for coming in to talk about this. The whole
:18:43. > :18:46.concept of this was started because you got fed-up with the way people
:18:47. > :18:52.were disrespecting bands at concerts that you went to. Tell me what
:18:53. > :18:58.sparked the idea? The co-founder and I were in a bar in London and trying
:18:59. > :19:03.to listen to music, a band called the Friendly Fires. There was a
:19:04. > :19:08.moment when we realised that half the room were talking or texting and
:19:09. > :19:11.you could hear the beer bottles clanging in the background from the
:19:12. > :19:22.bar. We thought there must be a better way to enjoy music. We said,
:19:23. > :19:27."Let's get out of here." Rocky Start is the name of your partner. That's
:19:28. > :19:35.ironic when you're trying to start a new business. Was it a rocky start?
:19:36. > :19:39.How did it begin? The two of you were there. You thought this is not
:19:40. > :19:43.great. We think it is disrespectful. How does it become a company? We
:19:44. > :19:47.connected with a third person at the beginning who is no longer involved,
:19:48. > :19:51.but helped us get started called Dave Alexander. Rocky and I can't
:19:52. > :20:00.play or sing, you wouldn't want to listen to us! But Dave is a good
:20:01. > :20:05.musician and we went to his front room and we asked people to just
:20:06. > :20:10.come and listen as you said, shut their phones off and just focus on
:20:11. > :20:15.the music. Eight people, you could hear, his grandfather clock in the
:20:16. > :20:19.background ticking and we had never been in an environment that was so
:20:20. > :20:23.quiet and that was the first one and it has grown since then. You tapped
:20:24. > :20:26.into a real need for music lovers to go somewhere that they really think
:20:27. > :20:30.they have no other distractions, but to listen to the music. How have you
:20:31. > :20:35.managed to grow it so fast because it is big now, what you're offering.
:20:36. > :20:41.Doesn't that scale present difficulties? Yes, it kept us up
:20:42. > :20:46.many sleepless nights. How could we scale and keep it small? We went
:20:47. > :20:50.from London to Paris and New York and Melbourne, Mumbai, but each
:20:51. > :20:54.place we had the same rules in place which was be quiet, keep it under
:20:55. > :20:58.100 people in some sort of intimate space or most often a living room
:20:59. > :21:04.and just ask people to respect the music and that was a way we grew.
:21:05. > :21:09.The second way was through social media and YouTube and ampifying it
:21:10. > :21:13.that way. You're in over 60 cities. In seven of those you have got paid
:21:14. > :21:19.staff. There are so many gigs you need staff. Richard Branson has
:21:20. > :21:24.invested in your company. How do you take this forward? In many of those
:21:25. > :21:29.cities it is voluntary people and people approach you to say, "I want
:21:30. > :21:34.to be the musician on offer in the front room." When Rocky and I
:21:35. > :21:38.started, it was just one event a month, hobby, easy to do, in cities
:21:39. > :21:43.like New York and Los Angeles and Oslo, we said could we do more than
:21:44. > :21:47.one a month? Could we do one a day? That was the divide. That was where
:21:48. > :21:51.we went from paying someone a full-time salary and getting enough
:21:52. > :21:54.money to support the artists and pay the people a full-time salary. All
:21:55. > :21:58.the other cities are that light touch with the hope if they're
:21:59. > :22:02.interested, in converting from being basically a volunteer hobby to a
:22:03. > :22:06.full-time job. We've run out of time which is a
:22:07. > :22:10.real shame. There is so much more to say. Well, you must come, both of
:22:11. > :22:15.you. Thank you very much. You're not going to be in my living room. I've
:22:16. > :22:17.got a dog and three boys under the age of 11. It would not go down
:22:18. > :22:20.well! In a moment we'll take a look
:22:21. > :22:23.through the Business Pages but first here's a quick reminder of how
:22:24. > :22:26.to get in touch with us. The Business Live page
:22:27. > :22:29.is where you can stay ahead of all the day's
:22:30. > :22:30.breaking business use. ahead of all the day's
:22:31. > :22:32.breaking business news. We will keep you up-to-date
:22:33. > :22:35.with all the latest details, with insight and analysis
:22:36. > :22:37.from the BBC's team of editors Get involved on the BBC business
:22:38. > :22:42.live web page, bbc.com/business, on Twitter @BBCBusiness
:22:43. > :22:45.and you can find us on Facebook Business Live on TV and online,
:22:46. > :23:11.whenever you need to know. We have been talking about the deal
:23:12. > :23:14.and wondering whether it will lead to a contraction in the number of
:23:15. > :23:18.brands on offer. Do you really care what badge is on the back of your
:23:19. > :23:24.car, David? I'm not really a petrolhead I have to be honest with
:23:25. > :23:27.you. If it has got four wheels and an engine and I can get into it
:23:28. > :23:31.without crippling myself, I'm happy. I think it will do. This is becoming
:23:32. > :23:35.a highly competitive business. You've got so much variances with
:23:36. > :23:41.foreign exchange, the euro value and the drop in the value of sterling
:23:42. > :23:45.and dollars and managing to equate this means the margins will be
:23:46. > :23:48.greater and therefore, volumes and making the public accept a smaller
:23:49. > :23:53.number of ranges seems very sensible. I think that might it is
:23:54. > :23:58.appoint a viewer, he says, "Of course, it does matter what badge is
:23:59. > :24:03.on your car. How else can one show off in front of their neighbours?"
:24:04. > :24:08.Oh dear. Some people it is all about brand! Let's look at the stories in
:24:09. > :24:11.the papers. In the UK here, Sir Philip Green making it into the
:24:12. > :24:17.weekend papers. No big surprise. It was a big week last week. This is
:24:18. > :24:23.for our international viewers, this is the retail tycoon who did own
:24:24. > :24:26.BHS, sold it for ?1, it then collapse add year after it was sold.
:24:27. > :24:32.There is a pension deficit issue and all sorts. It has been a very
:24:33. > :24:36.emotive story. In fairness to Sir Philip, this was never a legal
:24:37. > :24:42.issue, it was a moral issue and he stepped up to the plate with the
:24:43. > :24:48.?350 million towards the black hole in BHS which affected 19,000 people.
:24:49. > :24:53.We've got another thing. Arcadia, he owns companies like Topshop and
:24:54. > :24:58.Dorothy Perkins, there is supposedly a black hole in that of about
:24:59. > :25:01.?180,000 and there is a general speculation that rather than being
:25:02. > :25:07.asked he realises his responsibility and he will actually have 20 to did
:25:08. > :25:11.it. Sales were down over Christmas by 6.5% which I think nos not the
:25:12. > :25:18.order of the day at that period of time. A pensions deficit is
:25:19. > :25:25.across-the-board, isn't it? The deal between General Motors and PSA
:25:26. > :25:29.Group, PSA Group is not taking on the pensions deficit? It is across
:25:30. > :25:33.the spectrum. The problem that hasn't helped we have had zero
:25:34. > :25:36.interest rates for a long period of time which means bond yields are
:25:37. > :25:41.hopeless. We are living a lot longer, but there is an area of
:25:42. > :25:46.people sticking their head in the sands like ostriches, it isn't going
:25:47. > :25:52.away. Even somebody like BT, a well run company, ?5 billion black hole.
:25:53. > :25:59.Incredible. David Buik, thank you. Thank you for all your information
:26:00. > :26:06.as usual on the markets. We will see you again tomorrow. Bye-bye.