Does GM really want to sell Opel?

It has been almost three months since General Motors Corp announced to sell its Opel unit but a decision on which bidder will succeed is yet to be made.

Last Friday Opel labor leader Klaus Franz told Reuters that "progress was made, but there was no final breakthrough."

Franz said that he would ask German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Vice Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier to intervene personally to advance the stalled takeover talks, should no deal be reached by the middle of this week.

But shall we actually expect any deal to come out? Never. Because GM never really intends to sell Opel.

Besides Saab (which is to be sold in Q3), Opel is GM's only core European unit, which if GM loses, it will lose the entire European market. So GM will only sell Opel as a last resort.

Because of similar reason GM's old partner Magna is the most likely winner for Opel, but maybe very temporarily. GM will buy Opel back as soon as it recovers from the current difficulties.

So what GM is doing now is to gain as many attentions as possible. And with strong government support, it is easier for GM to get loan from banks. Already Europe vehicle market as a whole appears to have turned around, GM is expected to overcome the current difficulties without letting Opel off.