General Motors Co may finalise a deal this week to sell a majority stake in its European carmaking arm Opel to a Canadian-Russian consortium, its CEO said on Tuesday, as the firm sheds unwanted brands. Talks with governments and labour representatives on Opel, in which GM is giving up control under a US government-orchestrated restructuring, have dragged on for months, fuelling anger among staff, half of whom are in Germany.
The Detroit automaker decided last month to sell a 55 percent stake in Opel to a consortium including Canada's Magna and Russia's Sberbank. "It's quite possible to see documents signed this week," GM CEO Fritz Henderson told reporters in Shanghai. German Gref, CEO of Russian partner Sberbank, told reporters in Moscow that he didn't know when Magna would sign the deal. Asked when the signing would take place, Gref replied: "I don't know. When we start to sign, we will announce it." Meanwhile, Magna co-CEO Siegfried Wolf was due to meet Spain's industry minister in Madrid.
The comments followed a statement by Opel labour leader Klaus Franz on Monday that he expected GM to sign a contract this week. Also on Monday, Britain, Opel's British sister brand Vauxhall, which employs around 5,500 people, said progress was being made but there were still issues to be settled.
The Canadian auto parts supplier needs to clinch a deal with Opel's influential labour leaders over annual savings of 265 million euros ($387.4 million). Unions in countries with Opel and Vauxhall plants are negotiating with Magna and GM over a restructuring plan that would lead to thousands of job cuts across Europe.