General Motors would no longer be willing to bear Opel's losses. The weekly "Der Spiegel" (on the front page of the online edition) and the automotive weekly "Auto Bild" made the revelation, citing some Detroit managers as sources (but without mentioning their names and surnames).
Already in 2009 Fiat and the Austrian Magna group had tried to buy Opel, but in the end GM had not given in. Now, however, the US automaker no longer seems very convinced of maintaining control, given the losses made in Europe together with its British sister company Vauxhall.
The Ruesselsheim company was strategic as it ensured the supply of engines to Detroit. According to Der Spiegel, General Motors would now be able to replace them thanks to its subsidiary Daewoo, renamed GM-Korea, which produces new and fuel-efficient models. Already in March the president of GM, Dan Akerson said he was "impatient" to see the consolidation of the accounts of Opel and that he "would not have long witnessed this situation".
Among the names of possible buyers there are Chinese manufacturers but also Volkswagen, which wants to bar Asians from entering the German market. But the executives of the Ruesselsheim company deny the news and the president, Friedrich Stracke, defines the revelations of the German weekly as "pure speculation", adding that he does not want to comment on them. Along the same lines, the Opel work council has asked for a denial from GM.
We will soon find out if the German scoop turns into a hoax or not.
http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/0,1518,767489,00.html
