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German government officials and unions anxiously awaited a decision by General Motors Wednesday on the fate of European subsidiary Opel after the US automaker dragged its feet for months over a proposed sale.
The move could affect tens of thousands of jobs across Europe including 25,000 at Opel plants in Germany, as well as boosting a major reconfiguration of the global auto industry brought on by the world economic crisis.
The US auto giant's board began a two-day meeting in Detroit on Tuesday, as union sources in Europe said they expected the board to answer their plea for a speedy resolution and German officials upped the pressure.
"It is important for the employees and Opel plants in Germany that we are informed as soon as possible," Michael Meister, a top adviser to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, told AFP in an interview on Wednesday.
Meister called for a "quick decision" from General Motors.
A spokesman for the German Economics Ministry said GM's board would be discussing Opel "late tonight, Berlin time, and we expect news from Detroit as soon as possible."
But according to a report Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal, the GM board may end up postponing any move on Opel until later this month -- a delay that would spark anger in Europe.
"It's conceivable that they will not make a decision," a source close to the matter told the paper.
While board directors are also working on selling two of GM's other brands, Hummer and Saturn, Opel is the focus of talks, the report said.
This was just the second meeting of GM's new board of directors since it emerged from bankruptcy protection after a massive government bailout on July 10.
The company had said it was interested in selling a majority stake in its European operations.
But recent press reports have speculated the "new GM" would like to preserve Opel and its British twin Vauxhall in order to maintain access to the European market and help it develop smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles.
GM rival Chrysler, which emerged from bankruptcy a month earlier, has a foot in Europe through its alliance with Italy's Fiat and Ford also has a strong presence in Europe.
Germany is concerned that GM would end up laying off thousands of workers in order to keep Opel, which would weigh on Merkel's chances in the September 27 election.
Two plants in Germany and one in Belgium would be closed under an internal plan GM developed in the spring, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported.
The Wall Street Journal said GM expected to get one billion euros (1.4 billion dollars) in public aid from Britain, Poland and Spain on top of state support already provided by Berlin if it keeps Opel.
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck cautioned Wednesday that GM would be responsible for repaying the 1.5 billion euros (2.2 billion dollars) loaned to Opel should it retain control.
And the billions in additional aid promised would not be forthcoming should they be used to support "a plan of closures in Germany," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine.
General Motors must also explain "how Opel would stand on a solid financial base and what that would mean for production," Steinbrueck said.
"GM must be able to say whether it is ready and able to invest billions of euros in Opel's factories."
Berlin favors a sale to a consortium made up of Canadian auto parts maker Magna International and Russian state lender Sberbank, but GM is also considering an offer by the Belgian holding group RHJ International.
Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said Wednesday he still believes the sale to Magna will go through.
But even if GM makes another decision "we will continue to negotiate," he said on the sidelines of a conference in Frankfurt.
The US government, which holds a 60 percent stake in GM, has said it will not get involved in negotiations.
The head of General Motors in Europe said last week that Magna-Sberbank would "most likely" win the drawn-out battle to take over Opel but did not rule out that GM could keep control of its European operations.
