GENERAL MOTORS chief executive Fritz Henderson has promised Opel greater autonomy in Europe after appointing British-born GM executive Nick Reilly to oversee restructuring of the company's European operations.
The US car company has begun the hunt for a permanent Opel chief executive amid pressure to repay a €1.5 billion bridging loan to Berlin, after abandoning the sale of its European subsidiary to a Canadian-Russian consortium headed by Magna.
"Nick Reilly is the right man to lead the company through this transition phase and to work towards the quickest possible normalisation of daily business," said Mr Henderson at Opel headquarters in Rüsselsheim yesterday.
The 59-year-old Mr Reilly has worked for GM around the world, and served as transitionary manager to ease GM's takeover of Daewoo in 2002.
Reacting to the news, Opel works council leader Klaus Franz called on GM managers to turn Opel into a separately floated company.
"Then we'll see how serious they are about Opel's autonomy," he said. Opel unions want to see GM present a five-year plan to turn around the company.
Mr Franz has called on EU regulatory authorities to outlaw EU member states giving GM subsidies in the hope of minimising job cuts in their respective countries.
A week on, GM's corporate U-turn still stings in Germany.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who headed two all-night rescue sessions and green-lighted several financial lifelines, is pressuring GM to clear its debts and present a clear - self-financed - restructuring plan.
"I regret hugely the decision of General Motors but employees need more than regret, they need a solution," she said in Berlin yesterday. "We expect General Motors to present forthwith a reliable concept that gives Opel Europe and the German sites the chance of a good future."
She has defended her efforts to save Opel and its 25,000 German employees despite doubts from industry analysts and her then economics minister about the firm's long-term viability.
Together with Britain's Vauxhall, Opel employs over 50,000 people in Europe; Mr Reilly is expected to oversee at least 10,000 redundancies.
German unions fear around 8,000 job losses in Germany and a further 2,500 at Opel's Belgian plant.
Magna has played down the shock and anger at GM for letting the sale fall through.
Magna boss Siegfried Wolf told Germany's Handelsblattnewspaper that, when he first heard GM had changed its mind, he though it was a "bad joke".
"But we have orders from GM and there is no reason why we shouldn't get new ones," he said, describing the recent negotiations as "very, very intense co-operation".
In an interview with Austrian radio, Mr Wolf hinted that Magna expected to be paid for allowing GM use data it collected during takeover talks at an estimated cost of $100 million.
Magna's Russian partner Sberbank has been more blunt, demanding compensation from the Detroit-based company and even threatening legal action.