German Politician Agrees with GM Retaining Opel

Even if some other German politicians were outraged after hearing that General Motors will, after all, keep Opel and will cancel the sale to Magna International, Dirk Pfeil, a Free Democrat politician who is also a member of the group overseeing Opel, said this is the right decision in the current market conditions.

Furthermore, he believes that the job cuts General Motors wants to introduce will probably be the same as the ones planned by Magna, but the US-based manufacturer is yet to submit a proposal.

"I consider it to be the right move," Pfeil said. "The chances to preserve as many jobs as possible are just as high as they would have been with Magna. Magna would have been completely overwhelmed. Magna would have had enormous difficulties getting Opel back on the right track."

A German government spokesman yesterday issued a statement revealing that General Motors must return the 1.5 billion euros the company received a few months ago when Germany agreed to provide funds to keep Opel alive. The money were initially intended to help maintain Opel in the business until a new investor stepped in and injected more money.

"The government regrets the decision of the General Motors board to restructure Opel itself and to keep it in the group," Ulrich Wilhelm, a German government spokesman told the source.

German Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said General Motors will surely pay back the loan and described its decision to keep Opel as "totally unacceptable".

"We will the get the taxpayer's money back," Bruederle told reporters in Berlin according to a report by Reuters.