Henderson: GM could ask Europe to help it restructure Opel

Earlier this week, General Motors surprised German official and labor unions by backing out of plans to sell Opel to Magna International and Russian bank Sberbank. CEO Fritz Henderson said that the Detroit automaker now hopes to get the European government to help it restructure Opel but could use some of its $50 billion it received from the U.S. government.

GM’s decision to keep Opel will probably include it cutting around 10,000 jobs. Henderson said that GM will seek assistance from the European government to help pay for the estimated $4 to $5 billion restructuring costs.

He said that Opel will be able to pay for most of the restructuring itself.

“Part of it is from … GM,” Henderson said. “Things have improved there, as far as liquidity position. … That would be our principal source of doing it.”

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Free Press