GM's Sale of Opel May Be Signed This Week

SHANGHAI -- General Motors could finalize the sale of its German auto unit Opel as early as this week, CEO Fritz Henderson said Tuesday.

Henderson, visiting China for the first time since GM was restructured last summer, also was upbeat about the prospects for the sale of the company's Hummer unit to Chinese buyer Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, a deal that is still awaiting Chinese government approval.

Despite labor union objections over possible job losses, the sale of GM's Opel and Vauxhall units to Canadian auto-parts supplier Magna International(MGA Quote), which along with Russia's state-owned Sberbank acquired a 65% stake in the German-based Opel from GM last month, is expected to go ahead, Henderson told reporters.

"It's quite possible that you'll see documents signed this week," he said.

Though remaining issues are being worked out at the government level, Henderson said for the new arrangement to succeed the business would have to be restructured.

"We're 35% of the business and we want it to succeed. In order to be successful we need to take a significant amount of cost out of the business," he said.

GM, which spent 40 days in bankruptcy protection during the summer and has received about $50 billion in U.S. government aid, also plans to sell its Saab brand and scrap Pontiac and Saturn as it tries to streamline its operations.

GM signed a much-anticipated deal to sell its off-road vehicle unit Hummer to Sichuan Tengzhong on Friday. The deal gives Sichuan Tengzhong an 80% stake in the company, while Hong Kong investor Suolang Duoji, who indirectly owns a big stake in Tengzhong through an investment company, will get 20%. The investors also will get Hummer's nationwide dealer network.