After a meeting with the heads of the ailing General Motors, German Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said there was no decision in sight on state aid for its offshoot Opel, while officials of the German company said they wanted to break away from GM and forge a new motor vehicle group comprising the giant US auto groups European operations as part of a rescue plan. "No preliminary decision has been made," Guttenberg said. GMs European head Carl-Peter Forster, Opels Chief Executive Hans Demant and the head of the Opel workers council Klaus Peter Franz had jointly presented the minister with Opels proposed rescue strategy.

Guttenberg added that the government would not be pressured into a decision, and would take its time to evaluate the rescue plan over the coming weeks. The priority, Guttenberg said, was to make a basic choice that was economically eligible and worthy of support.? The decision, he said, had to make sense from both a business and a conceptual perspective.

Guttenberg announced that he planned to discuss series of issues with GM, to find out in which direction the Detroit-based carmaker was heading. During a trip to the US scheduled for March, the economics minister was due to speak to the government in Washington. Opels rescue strategy proposes to separate the German subsidiary from the ailing GM parent company. Opel and British-based Vauxhall would form a separate European entity, in which both GM and independent investors could participate.

Opel has said the carmaker needs a total of seven billion Euro, of which 3.3 billion Euro have been requested from the state. A further three billion Euro would come from GM, and savings of 1.2 billion Euro are further envisaged. The European Unions Industry Commissioner, Guenter Verheugen, said that the EU could only approve state funding for Opel if there is a long term strategy to rescue the company and secure jobs. "The Commission will test assistance for Opel just as impartially as for any other manufacturer," Verheugen said. The EU commission is the highest European authority upholding competition within the 27 member states.

Opels breakaway strategy is a move that could bring to an end Opels 80-year history as a part of GMs business empire, in a plan to underpin the formation of the European car group and help it through the current global car market crisis. Opel has a future in Europe,? said Forster. In addition to the four Opel plants in Germany, GM has operations in Britain, the home of GM9s Vauxhall cars, Spain and Sweden. However, GMs Swedish Saab company has already filed for bankruptcy protection. GM declined to comment on the restructuring plan drawn up by Opel with the new Opel/Vauxhall European operation to be based in the groups German headquarters in Ruesselsheim in the western part of the country.