05/07/2017 World Business Report

General Motors is hoping to get the all clear for the sale

But is the traditional car industry coming to an end?

We'll get a hands-on look at the latest in driverless technology.

Today the EU Commission will decide whether or not to give the green

light to General Motors for the $2.5bn sale

GM is hoping to offload Vauxhall and Opel to the PSA group -

that's the French company which owns Peugeot and Citroen.

It's easy to see why General Motors wants to sell -

their European operation, which is dominated by Opel,

has lost about $9.1 billion since 2009.

If successful, the deal would make PSA the continent's second-biggest

car maker after Volkswagen and ahead of French rival Renault.

Opel employs 38,000 people across Europe

but it's feared the sale could put thousands of those jobs under threat

with workers in the UK and Germany considered to be most at risk.

With me is Anna-Marie Baisden, Head of Autos at BMI Research.

What you expect in the EU to say today? Don't think we expect to see

a problem with the deal. Nobody so far has raised any issues with it.

It will make them a very big group, as you said. Still very much

performing as separate brands, I think, so we don't expect a problem.

Looking at the figures, this European division has lost over $9

billion so why would PSA Group want to buy it? Some of the comments that

have come from the chief executive of PSA is that he wants to bring

best practices to the group. That they can maybe use Opel to get into

markets where French companies don't have such a good foothold. They

definitely see some potential in having the Opel brand. What could it

mean for jobs? Is definitely a risk on both sides. We have already seen

PSA saying they will commit to the promises that were made to GM staff

in the UK. Obviously in Europe as well, it's a big risk. They will

have about 50 plants between them. I think certainly we will see some

scale backs. If the deal goes ahead and PSA takes over these

subsidiaries, if we have hard Brexit, what would it mean to the

car industry here? We have talked about a hard Brexit being a big

threat and not having access to the single market but there has been

talk of opportunities that PSA would be able to build in Britain and

models for Britain. There is and the foreign exchange exposure so it

would actually give them some opportunities by having facilities

both on mainland Europe and in the UK. That would require quite a lot

of development. Parts of the cards are altered in mainland Europe and

then back into the UK where it is placed into an engine that if this

hard Brexit happens and if PSA had taken over these factories in the

UK, they might develop those factories in the UK? They have

talked about a need for developing the local supply chain which could

only be a good thing to the British industry and could help some of the

other brands in the UK to see that we could develop the industry more

here. Thank you. Being the first to get a mass market

autonomous vehicle onto the streets of our towns and cities is a top

priority for carmakers on both sides But with the likes of Uber,

Google and Apple leading the charge in the US, German carmakers

are desperate not to be left Inside this Tesla model is in Thai

German. This is a fully repurposed automated driving car developed by

Bosch. The blue parties where we are driving automated and while you're

doing that, could connect with your smart fridge at home. A motorcycle

just told us it was coming from the left. The red and white dots others

laser points. -- Aviles appoints. The cartels now can activate the

system. I pushed the two buttons. VOICEOVER the car is now control

now. The card now turned to Orange. -- the road now turns. Thanks very

much. The German government has approved the law to allow safe

driving cars on regular roads but the question now is whether it

German manufacturers can beat their American competitors and Bosch is

pinning its hopes on its relationship with Mercedes. It's not

just the technology but the question of the legals and insurances to come

in the market. It's not just about regulation, Germans may still need

some convincing to embrace automation on their autobahns but

the country's top carmakers are hoping that their self driving

vehicles will become too convenient to resist.

Senior European Union officials are holding talks with nations

in the ASEAN bloc - this is a group of countries

The negotiations are aimed at promoting trade between the two

Rico Hizon joins us from our Asia business hub in Singapore.

Are talks have now been ongoing for eight years. Some stops and starts

along the way. It started in 2009 and negotiators are hoping that a

free-trade deal will be completed sooner rather than later. Already,

the two groups are major trading partners with each other after

China, the EU comes second when it comes to the amount of goods and

services that they trade with the region totally nearly $280 billion

in 2013. That is almost 13% of trade. When it comes to direct

investments, the EU is the largest source of investment into the ASEAN

region. But, there are major sticking point both sides need to

resolve. If it is a tariff only deal, that would be easy at the EU

wants some major concerns to be resolved. Labour rights,

environmental protection as well as access to the services sector and

getting rid of the negative investment list. This is as ASEAN

countries are in different stages of economic development. Some watchers

say after the pullout by the US by the Trans-Pacific Partnership, they

were to step up the process in the region made up of more than 600

million consumers. Fairly subdued trading in the markets in Asia.

The news of North Korea's missile launch yesterday has impacted

on the asian markets- trading subdued - safe havens

like Yen and gold attracting investors.

No movement from America to spark any enthusiasm on the Asian markets

as it was Independence Day yesterday. The geopolitical

tensions, both North Korea, issues with Qatar, you would expect oil to

be breaking through $50 a barrel as it is seen as a bit more of the

stables state haven. There is that issue of oversupply so that is at

continued concern. You can see the yen is slightly up. Don't forget you

can get in touch with me and some of the team on Twitter.