German Minister Says GM Keeping Opel Is Unlikely

Officials involved in the Opel - Magna deal have been dealing with all kinds of rumors in the last few days but one surprising scenario broke cover this week, claiming that General Motors might after all retain possession of the German brand. Dirk Pfeil, a Free Democrat (FDP), stepped out in front of the media and said that Berlin might after all review its decision on picking Magna as the new Opel owner and determine if General Motors keeping the German brand is a possible solution.

"The new government will take another look at decisions made up to now on Opel and imminent conditions to be set by the European Commission," Opel Trust member Dirk Pfeil told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung according to the aforementioned source. "The result could be a solution where Opel stays completely within the General Motors group," added Pfeil earlier this week in a statement.

However, Germany's economy minister, Rainer Bruederle, told Reuters that such a solution is out of the question for the time being and the country is still looking at ways to resolve the remaining issues with Magna International.

"We have a situation where much has already been locked in," Bruederle said.

However, GM's board will meet on November 3 to discuss the latest changes in Magna's takeover proposal and decide whether the US-based manufacturer should retain Opel or go further with the sale. GM's officials repeatedly said that it's still in the interest of the company to get rid of Opel, as it only wants to focus on the four core brands it currently owns.