John Smith, a group vice president and chief negotiator in the Opel restructuring, said GM hoped to receive the financial backing of European governments and support from the labor unions in retaining the unit. "Try as we might to fashion a deal with Magna and Sberbank that would retain a close tie with General Motors over time, there was really no guarantee that would be the outcome and that sort of leaves potentially a pretty big strategic hole for General Motors to deal with" Smith said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday. Full Article at International Business Times