Germany’s Economy Minister Backs Opel Sale to PSA

Plans to sell General Motors Co.’s Opel until to PSA Group are likely to move ahead, German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries tells reporters after being briefed on the plan by senior executives from both companies.

About 38,000 of Opel’s 42,500 employees are in Germany, where the carmaker operates three assembly plants. Zypries says the government will do “everything we can” to preserve jobs there.

The U.K. has so far received no assurances from GM or PSA about its two Opel factories, which make Vauxhall brand vehicles. Unnamed sources tell Reuters that the two carmakers have discussed plant closures and worker layoffs at the British facilities.

British business minister Greg Clark says he has been assured by GM President Dan Ammann that neither plant will be shut down. But leaders of the Unite trade union, who met with both men, tell Sky News “there’s no assurances at the moment.”

Other sources tell Reuters that the two carmakers are pitching the position that Opel would face “sharper cutbacks” if the unit remains under GM ownership. The news service notes that GM warned before plans of the sale were announced on Tuesday that the company would take “renewed actions” to achieve profitability at Opel.