GM May Be Close to Selling French Plant

General Motors Co. says it is in advanced talks to sell its transmission factory in Strasbourg, France.

Belgium's Punch Metals International and Germany's ZF Friedrichshafen have made a joint bid for the facility, according to GM. It says Punch would buy the plant and sell 8-speed transmissions to GM and ZF, starting in 2015.

GM tells Agence France Presse the deal could be completed as early as year-end. The U.S. carmaker would continue to produce gearboxes in Strasbourg until 2014.

The proposed arrangement would preserve the jobs of the factory's 1,000 employees. GM has promised its unions and the French government that it would seek a buyer who would continue to operate the facility with its current workforce.

The company said in May it would sell the plant as part of a restructuring of its money-losing European operations. The factory currently makes 6-speed transmissions for BMW AG and for GM vehicles made outside Europe.