Opel Threatens Insolvency

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

According to a media report, the carmaker should face insolvency from the middle of the year. Meanwhile, politicians warned against a government guarantee.

According to a newspaper report in the spring, the car manufacturer Opel, which is fighting for state aid, is threatened with bankruptcy. According to a report in the "Bild" newspaper, the manufacturer is facing insolvency in May or June. This is the conclusion reached by the guarantee committee, in which the federal states with Opel locations and several federal ministries are represented, reported the newspaper. Opel did not want to comment on request. A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Economics did not confirm the report on Saturday. She referred to confidential deliberations in the guarantee committee.

Money is migrating in the USA

The CDU economic politician Michael Fuchs had warned against saving Opel from bankruptcy with state guarantees. "The money will go straight to the US, we cannot agree," he told the Berliner Zeitung. "A bankruptcy of Opel will be inevitable." He caused outrage among the CSU: The chairman of the CSU SME Union (MU), Hans Michelbach, warned in an interview with “Handelsblatt.com” against “carelessly using the word insolvency”. "That is extremely dangerous in the current difficult overall situation," he said.

The traditional car manufacturer with around 25,000 employees and four plants nationwide in Rüsselsheim, Bochum, Kaiserslautern and Eisenach had admitted that it needed a guarantee of more than 1.8 billion euros. However, the Opel managing director Marco Molinari, who is responsible for finances, did not give any details: "It is not serious to put an absolute figure in the room without having clarified the necessary contributions of all those involved, especially the owners and employees, for a sustainable future concept", he said.

Lack of profitability

The President of the CDU Economic Council, Kurt Lauk, rejected an Opel rescue with state aid. "Opel will not be able to work profitably in the long run," he told the "Tagesspiegel am Sonntag". "The state is allowed to help where there are long-term functioning business models." Bankruptcies were part of the market economy.

According to a “Spiegel” report, the liquidity requirement at Opel is currently around 3.3 billion euros. According to corporate circles, Opel is aiming for a guarantee framework of 2.6 billion euros. According to the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Economic Affairs, there is still no concept that would allow an assessment to be made as to whether and which help is possible and necessary. According to the “Bild” report, the federal government fears that Opel can only help out at short notice by means of a “rescue guarantee”. According to current EU state aid law, the company would have to commit to massive capacity and job cuts in return.

Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) called for a European solution for the subsidiary of the badly ailing US company General Motors (GM). Steinmeier told the “Rheinische Post” published in Düsseldorf: “If you want to save Opel, you have to think further than the next church tower. No work can survive on its own or individually, neither in Germany nor anywhere else."

Daimler is not interested

The works council head of the Bochum Opel plant, Rainer Einenkel, also rejected a possible solo effort by the German car manufacturer. «Can Opel make it alone? Probably not, because we are too small for that,”said Einenkel of“Automobilwoche”. A potential partner for Opel would have to significantly expand the product portfolio of the subsidiary of the US automaker General Motors (GM). “It has to complement each other and not be in competition,” said Einenkel.

Daimler has no interest in taking over Opel. "I am convinced that our place is in the premium segment," said CEO Dieter Zetsche of the "Stuttgarter Zeitung". Daimler had experience with the badly ailing US high-volume manufacturer Chrysler and tried to combine it with its own premium brand under one roof. "This experience was not positive," said Zetsche. (dpa)