MUNICH – General Motors Co. will start selling cars under the Opel brand in China by the end of this year, Opel CEO Nick Reilly said in a newspaper interview.

China will be Opel’s first new global market, followed by Australia and two Latin American countries, Reilly told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview published Thursday. Continue reading Opel to start China sales this year

FRANKFURT (Reuters) — A senior German politician representing the interests of Opel workers in East Germany said the Berlin government was suppressing information that could bolster the case for granting 1.1 billion euros ($1.31 billion) in state aid to the General Motors Co. unit.

Thueringia’s Economics Minister Matthias Machnig, a strident supporter for aid, said he suspected some opponents in Berlin were using “marked cards” to win a high stakes game of poker against Opel and its employees.

Machnig criticized a two-page statement he received at a meeting of a government-appointed council of independent experts considering Opel’s request for state loan guarantees toward a 3.7 billion euro restructuring plan that will cut the unit’s capacity and workforce by a fifth.

“It is unbelievable that the federal government to this day has refused to present the full findings of the steering council,” Machnig said on Monday. “Obviously the government fears publishing the entire opinion.” Continue reading Germany suppressing findings helpful to Opel, politician says

Opel unions reacted angrily after a decision was delayed on German loan guarantees to help the General Motors Co. unit finance a 3.7 billion euros ($4.52 billion) restructuring plan.

A steering committee of Germany’s rescue fund on Tuesday did not recommend whether taxpayers should backstop loans of about 1.3 billion euros to help Opel reduce European production and labor capacity by 20 percent.

Germany’s Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle said a decision on loan guarantees would not come until late May or early June. Government officials claim Opel is not in any acute danger of collapse, so there is no rush to make a decision despite 18 months elapsing since the first aid request by Opel was made.

The delays have raised the suspicion that Berlin is drawing out a final decision long enough until it is blatantly clear to all involved that the answer will be no. Continue reading Unions angry after Germany again delays decision on Opel aid