GM loses patience on Opel loan guarantees

General Motors said on the 16 June 2010 that it was withdrawing all its applications for European government loan guarantees for Opel because the process was taking too long and its finances had improved.

The retreat followed Germany’s rejection earlier in June 2010 of an application for about €1.2bn of the €1.8bn the US carmaker had sought from central and regional governments to help fund the restructuring of its European unit.

It marked an abrupt end to a process that dragged on for 18 months, led to cross-border wrangling among governments and within its own workforce and became ensnared in German politics and European Union competition rules.

ESO: Background information: Berlin rejects GM's bid for Opel state aid http://www.europeansources.info/record/berlin-expected-to-refuse-gm-loan-berlin-rejects-gms-bid-for-opel-state-aid/

BBC News, 16.6.10: Vauxhall and Opel withdraw loan bids after delays http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10331695.stm

General Motors: Press Release, 16.6.10: Opel/Vauxhall to Withdraw All Applications for Loan Guarantees http://media.gm.com/content/Pages/news/us/en/2010/Jun/0616_opel/_jcr_content/iconrow/wordfile/file.res/OpelRelease.doc

Deutsche Welle, 16.6.10: General Motors withdraws request for European aid for Opel http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5689866,00.html

Spiegel Online International, 16.6.10: GM Withdraws Pleas for Public Money in Europe http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,701088,00.html

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