German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said General Motors Co.'s decision on a possible sale of its German Opel unit will be driven mainly by GM's business interests, which may have changed after the company's situation improved since March.
"It's my impression that the U.S. government has put the decision quite clearly in the hands of the GM board and that it's not exerting massive influence" on the decision-making process, Steinbrueck said after one-on-one talks with his U.S. counterpart, Timothy Geithner. Decisions are being taken based on the "very narrow business interests of General Motors."
Steinbrueck didn't contest a reporter's assessment that his summary of the U.S. government's stance may come as bad news for Opel employees in Germany, saying it's his duty to report "truthfully, without purposeful optimism." He spoke after a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20.
GM at a board meeting on Sept. 8 will argue for keeping Opel rather than selling it, in an effort to prevent Opel technology going to Russia, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said today, citing unidentified members of GM's board of directors.
The decision would embarrass the German government, which is pushing GM to sell Opel to a group led by Canada's Magna International Inc. and including Russia's OAO Sberbank and OAO GAZ, billionaire Oleg Deripaska's vehicle maker. Steinbrueck said Germany has "focused" its readiness to provide aid on Magna.
The German government has no indication that GM wants to keep Opel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung said in a preview of an article to be published tomorrow, citing Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg.
