General Motors’ European business has laid the foundation for overcoming the German federal government’s opposition to state aid for Opel, GM Europe’s head Carl-Peter Forster said on Tuesday.
“We want to do everything that is in our interest to contribute to making the decision process transparent and understandable for everyone,” he told Reuters at the automaker’s main plant in Ruesselsheim near Frankfurt.
Opel employs about 25,000 people in Germany and has said it needs EUR3.3bn (US$4.4bn) in state aid from European governments to save jobs and keep plants open.
GM Europe has said it would need an outside investor to push through its proposed rescue plan. Both the company and Germany’s government have said there are possible investors, though so far there have been no serious public declarations of interest.
German economy minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg earlier affirmed on German television that the state could not support the struggling company without certain conditions being met.
The German government has so far said GM Europe’s concept was inadequate and demanded more details.
Meanwhile, in the United States, President Obama’s administration on Monday rejected parent GM’s rescue plan and forced out CEO Rick Wagoner.
GM Europe has said the harsher than expected move by the US government would not hurt its own restructuring plans. The company had said on Monday it had seen a positive response so far to its search for an outside investor.
