General Motors Co. said Tuesday it will keep its European Opel unit and restructure it instead of selling a 55 percent stake to Canadian auto parts maker Magna International and its partner, Russian lender Sberbank.
GM’s board of directors made the decision at a daylong meeting after determining that a 3 billion euros ($4.43 billion) restructuring plan was significantly lower than what GM would have had to contribute to other bidders for the division. GM CEO Fritz Henderson added that Europe’s business environment and GM’s overall health have both improved since it put the division up for sale.
(more…)