1 second ago 2009-12-04T18:45:04-08:00
FRANKFURT (AFP) – General Motors chief executive Fritz Henderson flew to Germany on Monday to discuss the future of GM's Opel unit, a spokesman for the German automaker said.
Henderson visited Opel's headquarters in the western city of Ruesselsheim, near Frankfurt, and "held internal discussions," the spokesman said without elaborating.
Henderson said last week that he would be looking to set up a new direction for GM Europe, which includes Opel and its British sister brand Vauxhall.
GM Europe boss Carl-Peter Forster is to step down after GM made an abupt U-turn and decided to hang on to Opel/Vauxhall instead of selling the company to Canadian auto parts maker Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank.
Forster had backed the sale to Magna and GM's decision has made it hard for him to retain his post.
GM says it will have to eliminate around 10,000 positions to keep Opel and Vauxhall running, slightly fewer than Magna said it would cut, but German unions fear jobs cuts will hurt them more than under Magna's management.
Workers in other European countries were cautiously optimistic their situation would be better under GM's direction.
