(FORTUNE Magazine) – General Motors' operations in Europe were sagging until the company centralized like Ford; with its West German subsidiary, Adam Opel, controlling its European car business, GM has spent a lot -- and lost a lot -- to seize market share (FORTUNE, June 10, 1985). Now GM has established a separate umbrella organization in Zurich. The unit is expected to coordinate European strategy better than Opel did. Opel's board was distracted by the subsidiary's own operations and local labor relations; as required by German law, workers make up half the board. John F. Smith Jr., 47, who has been running GM of Canada, is expected to head the new unit after its president, Opel's ex-chief Ferdinand Beickler, retires next year.