Germany has called for meetings of ministries, regions and producers to discuss aid for the car industry as calls mount to give ailing manufacturers such as General Motor's Opel unit access to cash.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she had invited the Opel management and the workers' council to meet on Monday, following Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck's call for a meeting early next week of the relevant ministries and states. Steinbrueck on Friday said he wanted to discuss possible aid for the sector, but gave no details on any government plans.
German carmaker Opel has asked for financial guarantees if its parent GM, which said the downturn in global car markets might leave it without cash early next year, stops financing its development and assembly facilities. Roland Koch, caretaker premier of the state of Hesse, where Opel is based, has said the GM unit needed guarantees over 1 billion euros ($1.27 billion), two thirds of which would be provided by the federal government.
A person with knowledge of the matter within Opel confirmed the figure, while a spokesman for the company declined to comment. "This is about state guarantees of no more than 1 billion euros," the person said, declining to be named.
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