General Motors' European operations are scrambling to find a buyer ahead of a possible bankruptcy proceeding in the US. More than 50,000 people work at GM plants throughout Europe. The World's Laura Lynch has the story.
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MARCO WERMAN: I'm Marco Werman. This is The World. Anyone associated with General Motors, including its 74,000 production workers, are going to have an anxious weekend. On Monday, they'll find out whether the country's largest vehicle maker will declare bankruptcy. Meanwhile, it appears GM's got a buyer for its European operations. It's a Canadian auto parts maker, Magna International. Germany's been spearheading an effort to find a buyer. German officials are examining what's described as a preliminary deal, and figuring out how much it will cost the German taxpayer. The World's Laura Lynch reports much of the rest of Europe is waiting anxiously, too.
LAURA LYNCH: GM may have once had a lot of loyal fans in Europe. Millions bought cars made by its subsidiaries – names like Opel, Saab, and Vauxhaul. But with bankruptcy looming, GM is fast losing friends. For days, the German government has been trying to engineer a deal to spin off GM's European operations. But this morning, Germany's economy minister Karl Theodor Zu Guttenberg, seemed exasperated by last-minute demands for $415 million dollars more in emergency funding.
KARL THEODOR ZU GUTTENBERG: We have to find an agreement within the next days to come. And the agreement has to be in advance of the Chapter 7 solution. And if we don't find an agreement, then insolvency is an option – and this is what I keep telling our American friends who tend to gamble with that very option. And I think that's a dangerous game.
LYNCH: Dangerous for GM and devastating for the thousands of men and women who work for the company in Europe. 52-year-old Marvin Elbeck has worked at an Opel plant in western Germany for 11 years.
MARVIN ELBECK: And we're speaking of over 3 and a half thousand people with their families that – well, we don't know what would happen when you lose your job and where would you find something new. So we're not only concerned, we're actually frightened.
LYNCH: If autoworkers are frightened in Germany, it's probably fair to say they're close to pushing the panic button at plants in other parts of Europe. Terry Philipson has worked for Vauxhaul near Liverpool for 18 years.
TERRY PHILIPSON: The group of workers I work with, we're always scouring the internet to see whether there's any sign of what's going to happen, but we know that whoever takes over, that is not the end of it.
LYNCH: Philipson may be right to be concerned. GM will ultimately choose its buyer. Late today, it seemed to have struck a deal with the Canadian company Magna International. But the German government's preference is key, because Berlin has pledged the most financial support. It's putting up more than $2 billion dollars as a bridge loan and is brokering the deal. After all, half of GM's European workforce is in Germany. Professor David Bailey of Coventry University in Britain says Magna knew it had to do more than just offer money.
DAVID BAILEY: It sweetened its offer to the German government just a few days ago, whereby it said they would look to cut jobs in Belgium rather than Germany. So they've been trying to minimize job losses in Germany to get the favor of the German government and therefore, the money from the German government.
LYNCH: That's exactly the kind of talk that strikes fear into the hearts of employees outside of Germany. But German economy minister Zu Guttenberg insists he's got all of Europe's interests at heart.
GUTTENBERG: Our aim is not to save mainly German workers but to save as many workers and as many plants in Europe as possible -- but it has to make sense.
LYNCH: That's of little comfort to British worker Terry Philipson.
PHILIPSON: I'm a bit skeptical about that, to be honest. So I can't see the Germans putting the lion's share of taxpayer's money into the business supporting other countries. I do think that other countries that have got these plants in place should really get more involved.
LYNCH: Here in Britain, the minister responsible for business and industry, Peter Mandelson, says Magna has already made him promises – but he's looking for more than that.
MANDELSON: I will be seeking a very early further meeting with them to reinforce that commitment and to make it into a cast iron guarantee.
LYNCH: Still, even Mandelson isn't expecting a guarantee of no layoffs. At least some workers in Britain and across Europe are going to lose their jobs in the coming months – part of the pain of parting ways with General Motors. For The World, I'm Laura Lynch, in London.
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