Germany not pleased with Opel's "inadequate" rescue plan

[Haltech]

Filed under: Euro, Government/Legal, GM, Earnings/Financials, Opel

Opel, General Motors' Deutsch subsidiary, may have hit a snag in its bid for government assistance from the German government. According to Automotive News, Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck says of the proposal as it currently stands: "is not a workable basis for a decision." Steinbrueck said that Germany is willing to offer assistance to its domestic automakers, "But we can't make decisions that are irresponsible on a completely inadequate basis."

So, where does that leave Opel? It's likely that negotiations between the automaker and the German government will continue, possibly for weeks as each and every detail is hashed out. In the current proposal, GM has asked Germany to provide up to 3.3 billion euros ($4.15 billion) in assistance, which, if approved, could come in the form of loan guarantees.

An interesting side point to all of this that has recently emerged is that Opel had given up the rights to all of its patents when General Motors agreed to accept financial assistance from the U.S. Treasury Department.

[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]Germany not pleased with Opel's "inadequate" rescue plan originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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