Some fear Opel's Gliwice plant could be shut down as a result of the deal Courtesy of Opel

General Motors agreed last week to sell a 55 percent stake in Opel to Canada’s Magna International and Russian state-owned bank Sberbank after a long negotiation period. Months of uncertainty had weighed heavily on Opel’s 55,000 workers, including those at the firm’s Polish production plant in Gliwice.

The deal will see Magna and Sberbank each take 27.5 percent stakes in Opel. GM will retain a 35 percent stake, with 10 percent being taken by the Opel’s workers.

GM’s agreement is a significant victory for Russia, whose government has angled aggressively for a foothold in the increasingly consolidated world auto market. The deal was also welcomed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had lobbied for the bid; she could see a boost from the agreement in the run-up to elections on September 27.

The companies have vowed to inject E500 million into Opel, using it to make an strong push into the Russian market. They plan to cut 10,000 European jobs, a quarter of those in Germany, but have committed to keeping all of the German plants running.

“If we take into account only economics, then our plant has nothing to fear,” daily Puls Biznesu quoted Sławomir Ciebiera, the head of the Solidarity trade union at General Motors Manufacturing Poland in Gliwice, as saying.

“However, if politics is more important, than I am afraid that someone in Germany could decide to sacrifice us over the cost of [a German] Opel plant, which had already been planned to close,” he added. Half of the brand’s workers are based in Germany.

While some fear the Polish plant’s closing, representatives of the FSO plant in Warsaw see it as an opportunity. This is because GM is likely to look to strengthen its position in Europe after the sale, possibly through its Chevrolet brand. Chevy vehicles are assembled at the FSO plant.

GM said a final agreement should be ready to sign in a matter of weeks and predicted the deal would close no later than November 30. (Reuters)