GM and Magna, near agreement on Opel

General Motors was close to signing an agreement to sell a 55 per cent in Canada's Magna Opel to continue as talks with unions on staff cuts.
Sources in Germany, where Opel has about half of its 50,000 employees, said the deal could be signed on Thursday or Friday.
The deal could end several weeks of negotiations between the companies and representatives of the workforce, but there are still details on funding, including the 4,500 million to be achieved by countries hosting Opel factories.The employees of the factory cars should get a share of 10 percent in the new company in exchange for concessions on costs, while GM will retain a 35 per cent.
GM decided last month to sell a controlling interest to Magna and its Russian partner Sberbank.

Countries with Opel factories have struggled to save jobs and prevent plant closures aid pledging billions of euros.Talks with unions were continuing in Spain, while the union representing workers at Vauxhall, the brand of the company in the UK that employs 5,500 people, reached an agreement with Magna this week.

In Belgium, the unions agreed to a savings of 20,200 million euros in the factory in Antwerp after Magna promised to keep the plant open. This production facility was one of the leading candidates for closure.The Polish Economy Ministry declined to comment on a report on local radio on the grant aid of 450 million euros.
"Poland intends to provide an amount that depends on the requests and needs of the new Opel in Gliwice," said a ministry spokesman.In Spain, Magna back on Wednesday offered a 72 percent production of the new Opel Corsa in 2013.
Until then, production was reduced to 70 percent for Germany, said the producer of Canadian car parts during a meeting with government representatives and union of Aragon in Zaragoza.
"The Constitution guarantees the supply capacity of the plant in Zaragoza, with two production lines of 478,000 vehicles. That's an improvement, but will continue to negotiate today and tomorrow," said Arturo Aliaga, industry manager of the Aragon government.
A representative of Workers' Commissions said: "It's a step forward, but we expect more."
The Opel plant in Figueruelas, near Zaragoza, employs 7,500 people and Magna intends to reduce staff in posts from 1300 to 1650.
Initial plans for the restructuring of Opel, which include the loss of 10,500 jobs in Europe, have found strong opposition from European governments.
Magna and Sberbank have promised to inject 500 million euros in the car manufacturer, and intends to use that investment to enter the Russian market.
The European Commission noted the situation closely to ensure that state aid is not used in political matters.