German Econ Min: No Decision Reached Yet On Opel Help
March 02 2009 - 5:47AM
Dow Jones News
Germany hasn't reached any decision yet about possible help for
General Motors Corp.'s (GM) German unit Opel and it will contact GM
and the U.S. government in the coming weeks, Germany's Economics
Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said Monday.
He said the government learnt some details of the company's
restructuring plan for Opel earlier Monday and the economics
ministry and government would now examine these. The examination
would be thorough and any decision would take as long as needed to
be "economically sensible."
The examination will start this week and continue over the
coming weeks, he said.
"I will seek contact first with the mother company to discuss
open questions and to get an impression where the mother company is
heading," he said. "I will also talk with the U.S. government
during my U.S. visit in two weeks because the one or the other
questions could depends on the cooperation of both governments. We
will also talk with the (German) state economics ministers this
week about the details that we have learned today."
His comments come after a meeting with GM Europe Chief Executive
Carl-Peter Forster, who presented the company's restructuring plan
for Opel.
Web sites: www.bmwi.de; www.gm.com
-By Andrea Thomas, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 (0)30 - 2888 410;
andrea.thomas@dowjones.com