General Motors was re-examining its options for Opel yesterday after the European Union's warning that the proposed sale to Magna International and Sberbank might breach state aid rules.
Executives at the Detroit carmaker yesterday were discussing alternatives to the long-planned sale if the deal should fail on regulatory grounds, according to two people close to the company.
GM still favours the sale to the Canadian/Russian consortium, these people said, because it fears the only real alternative is insolvency and a controlled administration process. This would result in more jobs being lost than the 11,500 Magna has proposed cutting across Europe.