Obviously angered by GM's announced that it will delay a decision on Opel, German officials asked for support from the US administration who's currently owning 60 percent of General Motors. This way, they say, the company could announce the preferred Opel bidder faster and thus ensure a quicker restructuring for the German brand.
Furthermore, German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said that a scenario in which General Motors is keeping Opel is "hardly realistic", Reuters reported, pointing to the large amount of money the US-based carmaker would need to keep its brand alive. GM said earlier this year that it needs 3.3 billion euros to restructure Opel but the sum is likely to be increased now, said zu Guttenberg.
GM's board met last Friday and German officials expected the American manufacturer to announce its preferred suitor for Opel. However, GM once again delayed a decision on the matter, making the local officials call for support from their American counterparts.
"The United States government now shares responsibility for finding a way past GM's leadership weakness and helping us finally to reach a sustainable decision," Juergen Ruettgers, premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populated state, said last weekend.
"I regret that a final decision wasn't made, but I hope it will happen soon, because both for the workers and the economic situation at Opel, we urgently need a decision," Chancellor Angela Merkel added.
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