General Motors is expected to finalise its Opel deal this week. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Fritz Henderson, said that GM might sign a deal selling a majority stake in Opel to a Canadian-Russian consortium within a week. The Detroit-based auto major had decided last month that it would sell a 55 per cent stake in Opel to Canada’s Magna and Russia’s Sberbank. Fritz’s statement came after Opel labour leader Klaus Franz said on Monday that the deal was likely to be signed this week.

Magna and Sberbank had announced last month that they would jointly inject 500 million euros into Opel, and push the brand aggressively in the Russian market. Discussions regarding Opel’s future had been going on for months, without a conclusion, which had caused much anxiety among the company’s German staff. German Chancellor Angela Merkel had made significant efforts to push the deal just before elections – something which is said to have contributed to her victory.

The statements about the deal being finalized come less than a week after GM sold another one of its companies, Hummer, to Chinese heavy equipment manufacturer Sichuan Tengzhong. The Hummer deal still needs to be approved by Chinese regulators.

Courtesy: www.driveinside.com