Germany satisfied US was not involved in GM's Opel turnabout

Nov 5, 2009, 22:16 GMT

Washington - Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Thursday he was satisfied that the US government was not involved in General Motors' sudden decision this week to keep its European subsidiary Opel.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had stressed that GM alone chose to abandon a deal to sell Opel to Canadian-Austrian parts-maker Magna, Westerwelle said after a meeting with Clinton in Washington.

Clinton had 'made it very clear and strongly underlined the fact that the decision taken by General Motors was a decision taken without any political influence,' Westerwelle said. 'Indeed it's very good news to receive.'

GM's decision Tuesday provoked sharp anger and labour protests in Germany, where more than half of Opel's 50,000 European jobs are located. The German government had strongly backed Opel's sale to Magna with billions of dollars in state aid.

Thousands of workers at Opel plants in Germany went on strike Thursday, expressing unease over how Detroit-based GM plans to restructure the ailing carmaker and humiliation after a year-long attempt to agree to a sale.

In other European countries where Opel has plants, workers' reactions were muted amid hopes the turnabout might give Germany less influence over where job cuts are made. Opel has plants in Spain, Britain (under the Vauxhall brand), Poland, Belgium and Austria.

President Barack Obama's administration owns 60 per cent of GM, which was bailed out to the tune of tens of billions of dollars when it entered bankruptcy earlier this year.

But GM Vice President John Smith said Wednesday that the Obama administration had no say in the board's choice to keep Opel. GM has defended its U-turn as the best and least costly option for both companies.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Obama on Thursday to urge action on a new strategic plan for the troubled Opel. GM has said its own restructuring plan will be similar to Magna's, including about 10,000 job cuts across Europe.

The German government had made some 1.5 billion euros (2.2 billion dollars) available to GM in order to finance the sale process to Magna. GM has said it will repay the loan, but could ask for more money from European governments once it presents its own restructuring plan for Opel.