Manfred Wennemer has stepped down from the Opel trust due to ‘strong political influence’.
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Wennemer was a representative of the Federal Government on the trust board and backed an insolvency of Opel while German Chancellor Angela Merkel supported the proposed sale to Magna.
Recently, the other government representative, Dirk Pfeil, who also opposed the deal with Magna, has left.
Wennemer, a former chief executive of Continental , accepted the job as trustee “in order to find a sensible solution for Opel on the basis of economic criteria,” according to a statement from the Opel trust.
He had argued at the time Opel was too small to survive on its own.
Dirk Pfeil, appointed by the four German states home to Opel plants, was axed as a board member of the trust after he openly supported GM’s decision to terminate the sale.
Quoted in weekly magazine WirtschaftsWoche, Pfeil called on Germany and its organised labour to offer the same state aid and wage concessions to GM that were extended to Magna.
