A late bid by China’s Beijing Automotive Industry Corp (BAIC) for Opel could still be considered if the company makes a more detailed offer, German finance minister Peer Steinbrueck told reporters after marathon overnight talks between GM, the German government and three other bidders failed to produce a clear result.
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The attraction to the German government of BAIC’s bid is that the company plans to keep all four Opel plants in Germany open for at least two years without cutting any jobs. BAIC is aslo asking for EUR5bn (US$6.9bn) in state aid and said it would invest EUR660m (US$912m).
Earlier reports suggested that commercial vehicle maker BAIC, which also builds Hyundai cars in China, wanted to turn Opel into a global brand which would bring it into direct competition with other GM brands which could count against it; GM will have the final say in any purchaser for Opel.
