But GM are rejecting calls to spin off Opel as a standalone company, saying they regards the brand as their core business in Europe. Some German officials say the federal government and four states are willing to invest as much as $2.5 billion in Opel if GM would spin it off. The company have sought assistance from the German government, which says it is waiting for GM to present a plan for Opel’s future. Opel employs 25,000 people in Germany.
The German state of Thuringia is ready to consider a stake in a spun-off Opel, the eastern region’s economy minister Juergen Reinholz told a newspaper. “We want to do everything we can to help Opel,” Reinholz told the Berliner Zeitung daily on Thursday. He added that the state, which is home to an Opel plant, was prepared to consider taking a direct stake in the company “if it is released into independence.”.
