GM CEO says European motor business is not for sale

DETROIT — CEO of General Motors ' says that the European car of the company activity is not for sale.

Media have reported that GM wanted to sell the operations that fight, including the brands Opel and Vauxhall.

"Opel is not for sale," CEO Daniel Akerson told reporters Wednesday in Detroit, referring to the largest brand of GM Europe.

GM Europe is a money loser for GM, but is an important center of engineering and design. When former CEO Fritz Henderson tried to sell the business shortly after the failure of GM 2009, was canceled by the Council because many of the cars of small and medium-sized GM rely on foundations designed by Opel.

Yet the high labour costs, restructuring charges, European sales and sagging caused a loss of $ 1.8 billion for GM Europe last year. GM, however, has made progress, decreasing costs lately.

Reports in Germany's Spiegel and Auto Bild publications have said the GM Europe could be sold to a Chinese company or Volkswagen AG. GM has called speculation of relationships, but did not say definitively that the business is off the block sales.

At the company's annual shareholders ' meeting in June, Akerson repeatedly touted progress in Europe over the past two years.

"It is not only an abyss that we were looking for in 18 to 24 months ago," he said.

European companies employs 40,000 people.

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