Opel Workers to Protest if GM Doesn't Pick Magna

Germany is not the only player piling up the pressure on General Motors to issue a decision on who's better to own Opel. According to a report by Reuters, Opel's workers are now threatening to protest against the US automaker in case the company doesn't pick Magna as the buyer of the company. A labor leader yesterday revealed that General Motors promised to inform him, the Opel trustees and the German government of a decision on the German brand as soon as possible, but hasn't provided a deadline for this to happen.

"We will then tomorrow with many thousands of people go to Eisenach ... and will symbolically protect the factory from access with a chain of people," Klaus Franz said on German television station ZDF.

Nevertheless, GM is still unsure whether it should keep Opel and restructure it by itself or sell it to one of the two interested bidders, Magna or RHJ. The German state is still backing Magna international and is ready to provide billions of euros in state guarantees for the Canadian - Austrian partsmaker once it gets control of the majority stake.

General Motors on the other hand supports Belgium suitor RHJ whose offer is easier to implement because it involves less government participation.

Even if a decision is demanded by German officials before the debut of the Frankfurt Auto Show or, at least, before the federal elections on September 27, sources close to the matter revealed that the American carmaker intends to delay it until October.

However, with GM now on the verge of a public demonstration, things will surely evolve faster, so more details are likely to surface in the media very soon.