State funding of Opel moved a step closer over the weekend, when Germany's chanceller, Angela Merkel, discussed the issue with US treasury secretary Hank Paulson.
Opel managers, including Carl-Peter Forster, Hans Demant, and employee council chairman Klaus Franz, are scheduled to meet Merkel this afternoon to discuss loan guarantees.
"I think that the federal government will do firstly everything that is necessary to help the company," Merkel's spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told a government press conference. "But on the other side, naturally maintain a regard of the consequences of how this is handled for other companies."
Opel bosses are concerned that the precarious financial position of its US parent, GM, could threaten their successful European car production company, whose latest model, the Vauxhall Insignia, recently won European Car of the Year 2009.
They have been pressing the German and state governments for loans to cushion the impact of any problems.
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German leaders have said that they are keen to help the car maker, which employs around 25,000 people in Germany, but are determined that any taxpayer funding will not make its way to GM in the US.
