Magna's founder Frank Stronach felt the need to explain his company's decision and gave an interview to Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung.
After reading his statements, one would get the feeling that corporations and Russian oligarchs are the nicest things on the planet and have one thing in mind: to help. While there could be some truth behind his words – Austrian-Canadian Magna does supply Opel with parts and it's in the company's best interest to keep supplying - there's still a very disturbing vibe to the whole good Samaritan role playing.
"We don't see ourselves as a white knight. We only want to help," news agency Reuters quoted Stronach as telling Kleine Zeitung.
"We supply Opel and it has to be in our interest that Opel does well. The market must not be lost. We don't talk about taking a stake. We are saying we want to help. Russia could also play a role in this, allowing Opel to secure its market there," the nice gentleman from the big corporation added.
As we reported yesterday, Magna International and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska are targeting a majority stake in Opel. Fiat, on the other hand, seems to be attracted to both Chrysler and Opel. While promptly denying rumors that the Italians are interested in Opel, Fiat does seem to have a thing for GM's troubled division.
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