Word: european
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...Although just half of GM's European businesses are located in Germany, Berlin has effectively grabbed control of efforts to save GM's Opel and Vauxhall operations, which GM's board in Detroit this week centralized under Opel's control. But Belgium and the U.K. are no longer willing to just follow Berlin's lead. Politicians and union leaders there fear that Chancellor Angela Merkel, facing re-election in September, is preparing a deal that would save GM jobs in Germany at the expense of plants in their countries. (See 10 milestones on the road to GM's bankruptcy...
...country solution for a truly European-based company seems not in line with the idea of a European Union and its legislation," Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy wrote in a letter to the European Commission this week. He is worried about the fate of 2,600 workers at an Opel plant in Antwerp, which is slated for closure under some of the rescue plans under consideration...
...Italian carmaker Fiat also remains a contender. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has been jetting between the U.S. and Europe for weeks, meeting on both sides of the Atlantic with key politicians, unions and investors. Fiat recently acquired Chrysler and now wants to merge GM's European business into the Fiat-Chrysler group to create one of the biggest carmakers in the world. His plans to close plants in Germany and Italy have been roundly condemned by powerful German governors and the IG Metall trade union. A Chinese carmaker, Beijing Automotive Industry Corp., is expected to detail its own plan...
...loud protests in Germany in the run-up to the nation's general elections have raised fears that GM's European plants outside Germany, such as those in Antwerp and several Vauxhall facilities in the U.K., could become easier targets for closure. British unions are urging Prime Minister Gordon Brown to prepare an aid package for Vauxhall to give the U.K. a voice at the table, but so far London has proffered no numbers...
...that Opel's future is anything but rosy in a car industry beset by a massive erosion of demand. The Financial Times reported that the offer document GM sent out to bidders last month predicted a loss before tax and interest payments of more than $3 billion at its European businesses this year. (See pictures...