File picture shows the logo of General Motors' Opel AG Belgian unit at the Opel car factory in Antwerp, January 20, 2010.FRANCOIS LENOIR/Reuters
Opel on Thursday dismissed a report that General Motors , its owner, was considering a sale of its lossmaking German-headquartered European operation.
Karl-Friedrich Stracke, the unit's chief executive, and Klaus Franz, head of Opel's works council, both said that the report that GM was considering a sale, published on Thursday in the online version of Germany's Der Spiegel magazine, was "pure speculation".
Der Spiegel on Thursday said that GM was "again ready" to sell Opel because of losses at the brand and its sister UK marque Vauxhall. The magazine cited as possible buyers Chinese automakers and Volkswagen, Germany's largest carmaker.
Dan Akerson, GM's chief executive, has described returning the Detroit carmaker's European arm to profitability as a top priority.
GM in 2009 put Opel up for sale as it prepared to file for bankruptcy protection in the US because terms of its government bail-out prohibited it from funding unprofitable overseas businesses.
GM held talks to sell Opel to a Canadian-Russian consortium, but later shelved the sale after an improvement in its own finances and Opel/Vauxhall's sales and amid concerns over possible leaks of Opel's technology to Russia, where local automaker Gaz was poised to build cars based on GM designs.
The about-face angered Germany's government and Opel's union at the time.
Mr. Franz said on Thursday that the "speculation" might have been spread by other automakers because "Opel is successful on the market again".
However, he said: "Unfortunately, the works council is lacking in this regard a clear denial from General Motors, which until now held on to Opel because of a feared outflow of technology and other good reasons". He added: "This kind of speculation is enormously damaging to Opel's image".
Opel's sales in January to April were 3 per cent higher than a year previously in Western Europe's car market, where overall sales fell by 3 per cent, according to the industry group Acea. The brand and Vauxhall held a 7.4-per-cent share of the market, compared with 7 per cent a year ago.