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Germany Picks Magna to Buy Opel
by
Robert Farago
(IC: employee)
Published: May 29th, 2009
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Was there ever any doubt, really? If there was, it’s gone now, as Bloomberg reports that the German government has decided to put its taxpayers’ money behind a Magna-owned Opel. German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck told reporters in Berlin that Germany will provide a $2.1 billion “bridge loan” (direct translation) to keep Opel alive. “A solution has been found to keep Opel in operation,” Steinbrueck said. “You can be sure that we didn’t take the decision lightly. All the federal and state representatives are aware that there are some risks.” And there I was thinking understatement was an English thing.
Robert Farago
More by Robert Farago
Published May 29th, 2009 9:49 PM
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By going to Magna rather than Fiat, Opel will remain closely associated with GM. Opel isn't large enough to be independent, so it has to partner with someone.
So does this mean in NA, that "new GM" picks up a new import competitor? High-fives all round then....
I hope that we carry on seeing opel with GM.
One wonders if Fiat was thinking that the larger Opels would be marketable in the U.S. So much for that. From what I read, the Russian built cars are only competitive with other Russian built cars. So bringing Opels into Russia, albeit current Opels, could be very profitable.