DETROIT – This soap opera over what’s going on at Opel keeps getting more and more interesting. Now, General Motors says it may not sell Opel, and will try to raise $4 billion on its own to keep it, by mortgaging its assets in China. This, of course, is going to further anger the German government and labor leaders, who, as we reported yesterday, are already angry over the delay.
Even more interesting, the Wall Street Journal reports that GM’s CEO Fritz Henderson had recommended to the board that it take Magna’s offer to buy part of Opel, but the board, led by Texan Ed Whitacre, rejected its own CEO’s recommendation. To me, that, more than anything else, shows how much GM is changing. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the GM board reject a recommendation from management. And it sends a signal that this board is going to be far more active than past ones.
And speaking of GM, The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries sent a letter to President Obama asking him to stop GM from withdrawing from the program to recycle switches with mercury in them. Recyclers are paid $4 a switch to remove it from a car to have it properly processed. Automakers kick into a fund to pay that money. GM spends about $1 million a year on the program, but believes cars in junk yards are a problem for the old GM, what is now called Motors Liquidation.
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