GM chief for controlling key areas of Opel after sale
Thursday, 24 September 2009
FRANKFURT, Sept 23 (AFP): The head of General Motors (GM) has said he wants to keep control of key development strategies at German auto maker and GM subsidiary Opel once it is sold to Canadian group Magna International.
"We want to maintain substantial control over the product and engine development, that is, on intellectual property and global purchases," GM chief executive Fritz Henderson said in an interview appearing Wednesday in the German magazine Auto Motor and Sport.
The US auto giant wants to have four of the eight seats on Opel's management board and to open an office, staffed by "at least eight to 10 people," at Opel headquarters in Germany, Henderson said.
He agreed that officially Opel would have "complete freedom in its development."
"Even if Opel were planning to develop a space vehicle, we would not intervene," he said, adding: "But we would not pay the development costs for that."
GM is currently negotiating with Magna and its Russian partner, the state-owned bank Sberbank, on a final deal covering the sale of a majority stake in Opel.
"We want to maintain substantial control over the product and engine development, that is, on intellectual property and global purchases," GM chief executive Fritz Henderson said in an interview appearing Wednesday in the German magazine Auto Motor and Sport.
The US auto giant wants to have four of the eight seats on Opel's management board and to open an office, staffed by "at least eight to 10 people," at Opel headquarters in Germany, Henderson said.
He agreed that officially Opel would have "complete freedom in its development."
"Even if Opel were planning to develop a space vehicle, we would not intervene," he said, adding: "But we would not pay the development costs for that."
GM is currently negotiating with Magna and its Russian partner, the state-owned bank Sberbank, on a final deal covering the sale of a majority stake in Opel.