GM puts brakes on Vauxhall sale
GENERAL Motors yesterday put on hold its deal to sell a 55 per cent stake in Vauxhall Opel to a Russian-backed consortium led by Canadian car group Magna.
John Smith, GM’s chief negotiator, said in a blog entry that the sale could not go ahead until GM’s board of directors discussed the deal at a meeting on November 3.
He said the main topic of debate would be German economy minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg’s request to GM to confirm that it chose Magna for business and not political reasons. Vauxhall Opel employs 5,000 workers in Luton and Merseyside.