Berlin - US carmaker General Motors' sale of its troubled Opel unit has been thrown into uncertainty after GM said Friday it was putting the deal on hold until next month amid speculation it may seek to retain control of its European offshoot. The Detroit-based auto giant announced plans more than a month ago to hive off a 55-per-cent stake to a consortium led by the Canadian auto parts group Magna International and which included the Russian bank Sberbank.
But GM's top negotiator on Opel, John Smith, wrote in a blog Friday that the US carmaker will consider changes to the Magna deal at a meeting set for November 3.
"Given the significance of the Opel transaction, GM's board will soon meet in its regularly monthly meeting to consider (German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg's) letter and changes to the Magna/Sberbank proposal that have occurred since its last review on September 9," Smith wrote.
Zu Guttenberg wrote to GM saying Berlin's financial support for Opel was not solely for the Magna-led bid.
Meanwhile, the German news group Spiegel Online reported Friday that the GM board was now likely to consider retaining control of Opel at its November meeting and to use state funds to restructure its European offshoot.
The renewed sense of uncertainty surrounding Opel came after Magna appeared to clear a major hurdle in its push to acquire the majority holding in the GM unit after it reached an agreement with Spanish trade unions on the deal.
However, Berlin officials insisted Friday that they had no information that GM had changed its course on selling the majority stake to the Canadian-Russian consortium.
Nevertheless, plans for signing the agreement between GM and Magna have already been delayed.
Berlin officials also told the German Press Agency
