As it turns out, General Motors may have nixed the sale of its Opel and Vauxhall brands in 2009 due to the fact that the proposed buyers added 31 amendments to the deal after it was signed. The news comes courtesy of reports that cite U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by Wikileaks.
Some of those demands included the right to sell some of the automakers' two factories to a carmaker owned by the Russian state. That would give the foreign automaker access to Opel technology and patents.
Originally, Magna, a Canadian parts manufacturer, and the Russian bank Sberbank agreed to purchase a 55-percent stake in Opel from the German government in a Memorandum Of Understanding. According to The Daily Mail, After the deal was inked, Magna and Sberbank continued to pile on amendments to the MOU, and GM felt that the German government didn't fully understand exactly what the buyers wanted. As a result, the American automaker pulled the plug in 2009.
Some of those demands included the right to sell some of the automakers' two factories to a carmaker owned by the Russian state. That would give the foreign automaker access to Opel technology and patents.
Originally, Magna, a Canadian parts manufacturer, and the Russian bank Sberbank agreed to purchase a 55-percent stake in Opel from the German government in a Memorandum Of Understanding. According to The Daily Mail, After the deal was inked, Magna and Sberbank continued to pile on amendments to the MOU, and GM felt that the German government didn't fully understand exactly what the buyers wanted. As a result, the American automaker pulled the plug in 2009.
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