GM says ‘No’ to Magna; decides to keep Opel

The board of General Motors voted yesterday to cancel the company's plan to sell a majority stake in its German unit Adam Opel GmbH to Canadian car-parts maker Magna International and its Russian partner, Sberbank.

The US automaker said in a statement that its board had made the decision because of "an improving business environment for GM over the past few months".

Earlier in the day yesterday, it said its US sales had risen in September for the first time in almost two years.

The announcement came on a day when GM posted a 4-per cent gain in US auto sales, its first year-over-year increase in 21 months.

It is in this context that it now wishes to hold onto Opel and Vauxhall.

"While strained, the business environment in Europe has improved," Henderson said in his statement. "At the same time, GM's overall financial health and stability have improved significantly over the past few months, giving us confidence that the European business can be successfully restructured."