:00:19. > :00:23.General Motors is hoping to get the all clear for the sale
:00:24. > :00:27.But is the traditional car industry coming to an end?
:00:28. > :00:36.We'll get a hands-on look at the latest in driverless technology.
:00:37. > :00:42.Today the EU Commission will decide whether or not to give the green
:00:43. > :00:44.light to General Motors for the $2.5bn sale
:00:45. > :00:53.GM is hoping to offload Vauxhall and Opel to the PSA group -
:00:54. > :00:56.that's the French company which owns Peugeot and Citroen.
:00:57. > :00:59.It's easy to see why General Motors wants to sell -
:01:00. > :01:03.their European operation, which is dominated by Opel,
:01:04. > :01:07.has lost about $9.1 billion since 2009.
:01:08. > :01:10.If successful, the deal would make PSA the continent's second-biggest
:01:11. > :01:12.car maker after Volkswagen and ahead of French rival Renault.
:01:13. > :01:14.Opel employs 38,000 people across Europe
:01:15. > :01:18.but it's feared the sale could put thousands of those jobs under threat
:01:19. > :01:21.with workers in the UK and Germany considered to be most at risk.
:01:22. > :01:35.With me is Anna-Marie Baisden, Head of Autos at BMI Research.
:01:36. > :01:42.What you expect in the EU to say today? Don't think we expect to see
:01:43. > :01:46.a problem with the deal. Nobody so far has raised any issues with it.
:01:47. > :01:51.It will make them a very big group, as you said. Still very much
:01:52. > :01:56.performing as separate brands, I think, so we don't expect a problem.
:01:57. > :02:01.Looking at the figures, this European division has lost over $9
:02:02. > :02:06.billion so why would PSA Group want to buy it? Some of the comments that
:02:07. > :02:11.have come from the chief executive of PSA is that he wants to bring
:02:12. > :02:15.best practices to the group. That they can maybe use Opel to get into
:02:16. > :02:19.markets where French companies don't have such a good foothold. They
:02:20. > :02:24.definitely see some potential in having the Opel brand. What could it
:02:25. > :02:31.mean for jobs? Is definitely a risk on both sides. We have already seen
:02:32. > :02:36.PSA saying they will commit to the promises that were made to GM staff
:02:37. > :02:44.in the UK. Obviously in Europe as well, it's a big risk. They will
:02:45. > :02:53.have about 50 plants between them. I think certainly we will see some
:02:54. > :03:02.scale backs. If the deal goes ahead and PSA takes over these
:03:03. > :03:07.subsidiaries, if we have hard Brexit, what would it mean to the
:03:08. > :03:12.car industry here? We have talked about a hard Brexit being a big
:03:13. > :03:18.threat and not having access to the single market but there has been
:03:19. > :03:23.talk of opportunities that PSA would be able to build in Britain and
:03:24. > :03:28.models for Britain. There is and the foreign exchange exposure so it
:03:29. > :03:31.would actually give them some opportunities by having facilities
:03:32. > :03:38.both on mainland Europe and in the UK. That would require quite a lot
:03:39. > :03:45.of development. Parts of the cards are altered in mainland Europe and
:03:46. > :03:48.then back into the UK where it is placed into an engine that if this
:03:49. > :03:52.hard Brexit happens and if PSA had taken over these factories in the
:03:53. > :03:57.UK, they might develop those factories in the UK? They have
:03:58. > :04:00.talked about a need for developing the local supply chain which could
:04:01. > :04:04.only be a good thing to the British industry and could help some of the
:04:05. > :04:06.other brands in the UK to see that we could develop the industry more
:04:07. > :04:09.here. Thank you. Being the first to get a mass market
:04:10. > :04:13.autonomous vehicle onto the streets of our towns and cities is a top
:04:14. > :04:16.priority for carmakers on both sides But with the likes of Uber,
:04:17. > :04:20.Google and Apple leading the charge in the US, German carmakers
:04:21. > :04:40.are desperate not to be left Inside this Tesla model is in Thai
:04:41. > :04:56.German. This is a fully repurposed automated driving car developed by
:04:57. > :04:59.Bosch. The blue parties where we are driving automated and while you're
:05:00. > :05:09.doing that, could connect with your smart fridge at home. A motorcycle
:05:10. > :05:19.just told us it was coming from the left. The red and white dots others
:05:20. > :05:35.laser points. -- Aviles appoints. The cartels now can activate the
:05:36. > :05:44.system. I pushed the two buttons. VOICEOVER the car is now control
:05:45. > :06:02.now. The card now turned to Orange. -- the road now turns. Thanks very
:06:03. > :06:05.much. The German government has approved the law to allow safe
:06:06. > :06:09.driving cars on regular roads but the question now is whether it
:06:10. > :06:19.German manufacturers can beat their American competitors and Bosch is
:06:20. > :06:26.pinning its hopes on its relationship with Mercedes. It's not
:06:27. > :06:31.just the technology but the question of the legals and insurances to come
:06:32. > :06:37.in the market. It's not just about regulation, Germans may still need
:06:38. > :06:41.some convincing to embrace automation on their autobahns but
:06:42. > :06:44.the country's top carmakers are hoping that their self driving
:06:45. > :06:47.vehicles will become too convenient to resist.
:06:48. > :06:50.Senior European Union officials are holding talks with nations
:06:51. > :06:53.in the ASEAN bloc - this is a group of countries
:06:54. > :06:56.The negotiations are aimed at promoting trade between the two
:06:57. > :06:59.Rico Hizon joins us from our Asia business hub in Singapore.
:07:00. > :07:14.Are talks have now been ongoing for eight years. Some stops and starts
:07:15. > :07:19.along the way. It started in 2009 and negotiators are hoping that a
:07:20. > :07:24.free-trade deal will be completed sooner rather than later. Already,
:07:25. > :07:29.the two groups are major trading partners with each other after
:07:30. > :07:33.China, the EU comes second when it comes to the amount of goods and
:07:34. > :07:39.services that they trade with the region totally nearly $280 billion
:07:40. > :07:43.in 2013. That is almost 13% of trade. When it comes to direct
:07:44. > :07:51.investments, the EU is the largest source of investment into the ASEAN
:07:52. > :07:54.region. But, there are major sticking point both sides need to
:07:55. > :07:58.resolve. If it is a tariff only deal, that would be easy at the EU
:07:59. > :08:03.wants some major concerns to be resolved. Labour rights,
:08:04. > :08:09.environmental protection as well as access to the services sector and
:08:10. > :08:19.getting rid of the negative investment list. This is as ASEAN
:08:20. > :08:25.countries are in different stages of economic development. Some watchers
:08:26. > :08:29.say after the pullout by the US by the Trans-Pacific Partnership, they
:08:30. > :08:47.were to step up the process in the region made up of more than 600
:08:48. > :08:48.million consumers. Fairly subdued trading in the markets in Asia.
:08:49. > :08:51.The news of North Korea's missile launch yesterday has impacted
:08:52. > :08:53.on the asian markets- trading subdued - safe havens
:08:54. > :09:00.like Yen and gold attracting investors.
:09:01. > :09:05.No movement from America to spark any enthusiasm on the Asian markets
:09:06. > :09:10.as it was Independence Day yesterday. The geopolitical
:09:11. > :09:14.tensions, both North Korea, issues with Qatar, you would expect oil to
:09:15. > :09:18.be breaking through $50 a barrel as it is seen as a bit more of the
:09:19. > :09:22.stables state haven. There is that issue of oversupply so that is at
:09:23. > :09:33.continued concern. You can see the yen is slightly up. Don't forget you
:09:34. > :09:35.can get in touch with me and some of the team on Twitter.