The new General Motors board of directors didn’t make its first major decision: It did not give any favor to either of Opel’s two bidders, Canada’s Magna International or Belgium’s RHJ International. Last night, GM’s board had been expected to choose one of the two bidders, but no recommendation was made.
A GM spokesperson revealed that the decision will take quite some time yet. While Magna intends to grow Opel, especially in the Russian market favored by its bidding partner, RHJ has said it will invoke layoffs, close plants and reduce production to make Opel profitable again.
GM is said to favor the RHJ bid because the Belgian firm would intend to sell Opel back to GM at some point once the dirty work had been performed.
Germany, which has said it will provide some state aid to either bidder to be used towards Opel, will ask either suitor to invest more money in the automakers. Not surprisingly, the government favors the Magna bid.
