General Motors has paid back a loan from Germany and slightly lowered its target for job cuts at struggling European unit Opel.
Nick Reilly, the boss brought in from GM's thriving Asian operations to help revamp Opel, told reporters in Duesseldorf today that said his plans now call for cutting 9,000 to 9,500 jobs at Opel and British sister brand Vauxhall.
GM will present that plan to Opel's labour leaders on Wednesday, having decided not to sell Opel to auto parts maker Magna International and Russian lender Sberbank, who said they would cut 10,000 jobs.
German chancellor Angela Merkel, whose government had supported GM's plan to sell Opel to Magna, said that GM had also paid back the last of a €1.5 billion bridge loan it had made available to Opel.
"I can tell you that the last funds for Opel have been paid back by General Motors," Ms Merkel said. "I expect at least a thank you letter from General Motors in a few years."
"German taxpayers have not lost a single cent on the entire Opel operation," she said.
The US carmaker, which has been bailed out by the US government, is revamping operations worldwide but reassured German workers over its immediate plans.
GM has provided scant details on its €3.3 billion rescue plan for Opel and European officials are set to discuss possible aid on December 4th.
The carmaker, which emerged from bankruptcy in July, muddied the waters in the debate over whether it should get state aid when its third-quarter results revealed it had nearly $43 billion in cash at the end of September.
Germany -- home to over half of Opel's 50,000 staff -- has given mixed signals on aid since GM's U-turn on the Magna deal.
EU industry commissioner Guenter Verheugen said today that without state aid the revamp could not work.
Reuters