Germany expects Opel go ahead
Germany will seek agreement from its European partners on its state aid plan for loss-making carmaker Opel, and does not expect any veto from Brussels, the economy minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said yesterday. He was seeking to calm a growing political storm over the €4.5bn (£4.1bn) of aid it is set to give Opel now that Canadian automotive group Magna has bought a majority stake in Opel from General Motors (GM). The new Opel owners intend to cut about 10,500 jobs from a workforce of 50,000 across Europe.