F&I Management & Training

General Motors (GM) has confirmed it is in talks with a number of potential third party investors about them taking a stake in its German carmaker Opel. A spokesman said that Fritz Henderson, the GM president and chief operating officer "has been quoted as saying we are talking to six interested parties". Reports said GM was talking to four financial and two strategic investors. GM would not confirm that it was seeking a reported minimum 500m euros ($645m;£444m) from investors. US carmaker GM is facing potential bankruptcy at home and is running short of cash in Europe. However resolving the problems facing Opel is proving far from smooth. State support As well as seeking private investors Opel, which is suffering from a slump in sales like most global carmakers, has called for a cash injection from Germany to help its survival. Germany has ruled out a bailout of Opel but said it would provide loan guarantees for a third-party investor. At the end of March German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave assurances that any investor in Opel would have state support. Last month deputy economic minister Dagmar Woehrl claimed in the German parliament that GM had pledged the intellectual property of Opel as security against capital injections it had received from the US government. GM, which was toppled by Toyota as the world's top-selling car firm earlier this year, is trying to wind down some of its European operations as part of a massive cost-cutting exercise.

DATED: 25.04.09

FEED: AW