Germany Piles Up the Pressure on General Motors

Germany is still awaiting General Motors' final word on Opel but with reports claiming a decision on the brand won't come sooner than October, officials in the country are getting worried. As a result, Germany has asked for more clarity on Opel's future, asking General Motors to specify what it intends to do with the company. At this point, GM's board is considering three possible options: selling Opel to either RHJ or Magna or keeping the brand and revamp it by itself.

German Deputy Economy Minister Jochen Homann is one of those who called for faster decisions from the former US bankrupt automaker, with Berlin asking for a decision to be made before the Frankfurt Auto Show that will open its doors next week. However, some voices are revealing that GM is far from issuing an announcement and the new owner won't be picked before October.

"We are keeping Opel' is not a strategy yet," Jochen Homann said when commenting GM's latest delay on the matter. "We're still negotiating toward an investor solution - that is an industry-based plan which will be valid in the longer term," German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said yesterday.

Even if some German officials admitted that RHJ might be accepted as the new Opel owner, Berlin is still backing Magna International. Chancellor Angela Merkel even said that she's willing to personally intervene in the talks to support the Canadian - Austrian partsmaker.

"The German government has made it clear on repeated occasions that state aid depends on a solution with an investor," a spokesman for the Economy Ministry said.