Germany’s economy minister was quoted as saying on Saturday that questions remained over plans by both Fiat SpA and auto parts maker Magna International Inc to invest in General Motors’ (GM) main European unit, Opel, adding that he was equally open to both suitors.
Fiat’s chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, has visited Germany twice in the past week to present officials his plan to make GM Europe, including German-based Adam Opel GmbH, part of a global powerhouse also including Chrysler.
Canadian-based Magna has said it is in talks about options for Opel that might include taking a minority stake, but otherwise has given few details.
“Both concepts, both Magna’s and Fiat’s, still include open questions that need to be cleared up,” Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg was quoted as telling the weekly Der Spiegel. “For the time being, I view both concepts with the same openness and skepticism.”
Guttenberg did not elaborate on the questions.
GM has been trying to find investors for non-core and unprofitable assets to help stave off collapse. Opel employs some 26,000 people in Germany — nearly half of GM’s total European work force.
“Of course, we want to secure as many jobs and facilities as possible. At the same time we have the obligation to deal responsibility with tax money,” Guttenberg was quoted as saying.
Germany cannot “pay a loan guarantee come what may, regardless of how questionable or solid the concepts to save Opel are in the end.”
Earlier this week, he said Fiat’s plan would require short-term financing estimated at between 5 billion and 7 billion euros (US$6.7 billion and US$9.4 billion) Europe-wide, which could be covered by loan guarantees from governments.
Guttenberg said a GM bankruptcy filing next month could not be ruled out, Der Spiegel reported.
If, by then, GM is largely in agreement with an investor on a satisfactory concept for Opel, “we are considering among other options, for example, a model in which the GM holding in Opel could temporarily be passed to a trustee,” he was quoted as saying.
A bank consortium could offer bridging aid, he said.
In Fiat’s home city, Turin, Marchionne said on Saturday that he was confident of winning over the Germans to his plan.
“Let us keep working at it, I am sure of convincing them,” Italy’s ANSA news agency quoted him as saying. “It’s the right situation for them and for us.”
He said that Fiat was offering “a basis of industrial coherence that no one else is capable of giving,” ANSA said.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also voiced optimism.
“I hope that there will be” a Fiat-Opel accord, Berlusconi told a news conference at his office in Rome.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
CRITICAL MOVE: TSMC’s plan to invest another US$100 billion in US chipmaking would boost Taiwan’s competitive edge in the global market, the premier said The government would ensure that the most advanced chipmaking technology stays in Taiwan while assisting Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in investing overseas, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The statement follows a joint announcement by the world’s largest contract chipmaker and US President Donald Trump on Monday that TSMC would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next four years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US, which would include construction of three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center. The government knew about the deal in advance and would assist, Presidential
RSS