Car News – GM close to finding buyer for the Opel brand?

The Opel Astra, one of the models of the Opel brand.

It appears that General Motors is beginning to narrow down on which company will purchase the prestige Opel brand name.  So far it is down to two companies: RHJ International and the highest bidder Magna.

So far it appears Magna is the most likely choice according to GM.  “Magna is the most likely for me because all conditions have been met, the contracts have been negotiated and the financing is in place,” Forster told the Die Welt newspaper.

However Forster also mentioned that General Motors is also playing with the idea of holding onto the Opel brand: “If General Motors can establish worldwide standards while at the same time allowing regional freedom to create cars that work in the given markets, then Opel can thrive under GM”.

At this point, General Motors has not made a final decision on what will be done with the popular European brand, nor does it know if it will have the decision made by the end of the year.  Although analysts have said that selling off the Opel brand would be the best decision for General Motors to do so it can focus mainly on it’s own American designed cars and rely less on foreign made vehicles.