GM board will again delay decision on Opel’s future

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GM board will again delay decision on Opel’s future, report says

Posted Tuesday, Sep 8, 2009, 1:00 pm in Employee News

General Motors Co.’s board will again postpone a decision on Opel’s future at a two-day meeting starting today despite pressure from Germany to accept an offer for the European unit from Magna International Inc, a newspaper reported today, according to the Automotive News.

GM’s board will delay a decision until October at the earliest, the German business daily Handelsblatt said, citing company sources. The paper said the board favors keeping Opel or, as a second choice, selling a majority stake to Belgian investment group RHJ International, which is offering 300 million euros ($433 million) in cash for a 50.1 percent stake in Opel, the Automotive News said.

GM signed an initial agreement in May to sell a majority stake in Opel and its British sister brand Vauxhall to a Russian-backed consortium led by Magna, the paper said. Since then senior GM executives have become increasing worried that Opel under Magna could transfer important technological expertise to the Canadian supplier’s industrial partner GAZ, Russia’s second-largest domestic automaker and a rival to GM’s successful Chevrolet brand in Russia, the story said. (Automotive News)