Opel CEO Says Reports Of Sale Are "Pure Speculation"

The Chief Executive of General Motors Co.'s (GM) German unit Adam Opel AG Thursday told the company's employees that renewed speculation about a possible sale was "pure speculation" and the company was continuing to make good its turnaround.

German trade magazine Auto Bild and weekly Der Spiegel reported Thursday that GM's management was increasingly doubtful about Opel's economic viability, and Auto Bild said GM could instead focus on its Chevrolet brand in an effort to return its loss-making European operations to profitability.

However, in an internal letter sent to staff that has been seen by Dow Jones Newswires, Karl-Friedrich Stracke said GM backed the view that reports of a sale were speculative.

"I'm asking myself why this issue is surfacing again now that Opel is back on the route to success," Stracke wrote. "We proved that the company is on a very good way and therefore represents a great value for GM."

GM planned to sell Opel to a consortium led by Canadian auto-parts maker Magna International Inc. (MGA) in 2009 as part of a major reshuffle of the whole company, but skipped the sale at the eleventh hour.

-By Nico Schmidt and Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]