BERLIN HAS no say in which suitor will secure Opel, a decision that rests solely in the hands of General Motors, but it is the destination of choice for anyone wanting to get their hands on the carmaker.
The government has promised to support the future owner with credit guarantees and is using its influence strongly to shape the transaction in the form of a set of criteria elaborated by vice-chancellor, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the economics minister, struck a positive note after a meeting with Sergio Marchionne, Fiat chief executive, in Berlin yesterday.
Magna, the Canadian-Austrian car parts maker also interested in Opel, beat a path to the ministers’ doors last week. “It is an interesting plan,” Mr Guttenberg said of the Fiat approach, highlighting Mr Marchionne’s promise to maintain all Opel car plants in Europe. But he was more equivocal over Fiat’s plans for the Kaiserslautern engine plant, hinting that it could be closed.
At the weekend, Mr Marchionne had said Fiat’s and Opel’s engine factories would be consolidated.
The Italian carmaker, Mr Guttenberg said, would not raise debt to finance the transaction and would require state credit guarantees worth €5-€7 billion – something critics have argued provides the rationale for Fiat doing the deal.
The chief executive had assured him Opel would retain a separate brand and a headquarters in Germany, Mr Guttenberg added.
The fate of Opel has become part of the German electoral campaign ahead of the general election on September 27th.
The contest will pitch Angela Merkel, chancellor and chairman of the Christian Democratic Union, against Mr Steinmeier, who is heading the Social Democratic ticket.
Both sides would have to agree for the government to issue credit guarantees. But the political rivalry has seriously complicated the talks between potential investors and the government, forcing suitors to approach both Mr Guttenberg, as de facto representative of Ms Merkel, and Mr Steinmeier. It has also led to heated exchanges between the two ministers.
Mr Guttenberg has accused Mr Steinmeier of siding too closely with Opel’s worker representatives, who have expressed misgivings about the Fiat approach, as part of his strategy to rally trade union support for his candidacy.
In a weekend interview, he said the foreign minister had “little command of the details” of the Opel situation and was being “groundlessly prejudiced against one possible investor”.
Mr Steinmeier has accused Mr Guttenberg of endangering Opel’s future by ruling out a partial nationalisation. His SPD would support the acquisition of a government stake in Opel. – (Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2009)
