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GM Board to Meet on Opel's Future Today

Members of GM's board will meet once again today, with the future of the German unit Opel the main entry on the agenda. However, a decision on who's the one to control Opel is now expected today, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, with more and more voices pointing that such an announcement won't come before the German elections on September 27.

However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel still hopes a decision to come before the vote and emphasizes that local officials are trying anything that's possible to complete this task. "I hope (a deal) will happen before the vote. We are working towards this goal," she was quoted as saying by the aforementioned source.

What's interesting is that some analysts are now claiming that General Motors delays an official announcement because it prefers RHJ while Merkel repeatedly showed her support for Magna. This way, the American manufacturer wants to avoid affecting Merkel's image before the federal elections, so a decision is likely to be revealed after September 27.

On the other hand, RHJ recently improved its bid for Opel, informing General Motors that it would seek less government participation and is ready to pay more money for the controlling stake in the German manufacturer. These two aspects perfectly match GM's demands, as the company repeatedly said it prefers the Belgium suitor because it demands less money from the involved governments.

"RHJ had already stated it was trying to optimize the financial aspect of its offer and it will continue to make every effort wherever possible to reduce the impact on German and European taxpayers without making any new cuts in employment, planned investments or anything else," an RHJ spokesman said.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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