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Car Parts Firm "Agrees To Buy" Vauxhall & Opel

Car parts maker Magna International has reached an agreement in principle to rescue GM Europe, owner of Opel and Vauxhall, reports say.

The agreement was reached with General Motors, but is subject to the approval of the German government, which will be providing funding to the new owner.

Fiat, who were also interested, said it would not be attending Friday's talks with the German government.

General Motors USA is expected to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday.

There is due to be a meeting in Berlin at 1800 local time, which will be attended by Chancellor Angela Merkel, the ministers involved and officials from the German states that contain GM plants to discuss whether to approve the deal.  Magna and General Motors will not be attending the meeting at first, although they may be invited later.

There have been suggestions in the German media that it may be cheaper for the German government to allow GM Europe to declare itself insolvent than to allow it to be bought.

Magna and GM will have to make sure that GM Europe is restructured in a way that will protect the carmaker if, as expected, its parent company in the US declares itself bankrupt.

HPI warns dealers about scrappage scam

The government's new scrappage scheme could see dealers open to threat by stolen V5's.  Cat Information company HPI have welcomed the scheme initially, but are concerned that although scheme is bound to attract customers with older cars that qualify, HPI also says it is likely to attract opportunistic criminals.

Director of Automotive at HPI, Daniel Burgess said " In a bid to make the most of the scrappage scheme, to swap old vehicles for cut price new ones, fraudsters will need proof of a one year's ownership. This is only prerequisite for qualifying for the discount and as of yet there is little or no means of policing this. As such we have a concern that used car criminals will use stolen V5's to prove they have been the registered keeper of a vehicle for at least 12 months."

The DVLA has advised that were a large number of stolen V5's in circulation back in 2007.

This post compiled by Find a Part, Car Parts Search Specialists since 1978.

LDV administration can wait for a week

LDV has had its administration adjourned for a week after the Government stepped in with a £5m bridging loan to secure a takeover by Malaysian group Weststar.  If LDV were to go under, as many as 6,750 jobs could be affected - 850 at LDV, 6,000 in the supply chain to LDV.

LDV, who specialise in making vans, attended a hearing on Wednesday where the court was told that Weststar had agreed in principle a deal to acquire the Birmingham-based company.  In a statement, LDV confirmed that a deal has been agreed and added that it "will take another few weeks to be completed and the loan from the Government is to enable the business to continue operating whilst this process takes place.  We need continued support from our employees, dealers and suppliers over this period to finalise this process and restart production and sales of MAXUS commercial vehicles.  This is clearly a significant development for LDV and a major step towards an exciting new future but there are still major steps to be competed over the next few weeks. We will issue further communications as soon as they are available."

Guy Jones, the LDV spokesman, said Weststar would look to "secure" as many jobs as possible but that economic conditions would be the decisive factor.

The judge adjourned the case until Wednesday May 13 at Birmingham County Court, although LDV had been seeking for proceedings to be put back by a fortnight.

Report compiled by Find a Part - Car Parts Search Specialists since 1978.

Fiat to take over Chrysler ? Judge removes obstacle

Fiats attempts to take over parts of Chrysler has taken a significant step forward, after Judge Arthur Gonzales rejected arguments from a group of Chrysler lenders, who wanted the deal blocked. He said that the take-over plan was a "fair and ordinary" process and stressed the "urgent need" for a sale.

This has been seen as a victory for Chrysler and the US government, which has backed the plan. Chrysler has asked for a quick sale of most of its assets to a new company held by Fiat, a United Auto Workers union healthcare trust and the US and Canadian governments.

A group of 20 lenders, including hedge funds, had said the plan would go against normal bankruptcy principles, as it inverts the usual priority scheme for payments to creditors. However, when Barack Obama announced the proposed Chrysler bankruptcy last week he called the lender group - who hold more than $300m of secured Chrysler debt - "speculators."

Report compiled by Find a Part - Car Parts Search Specialists since 1978.

Fiat to take over GM Europe ( Vauxhall ) ?

Car maker Fiat, based in Italy, has denied a report that it would cut 18,000 jobs and 10 assembly and component sites if a deal to take over GM Europe is made.

The claim, made by Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, suggested that the cuts would include both Vauxhall plants in the UK and two Fiat factories in Italy.  Vauxhall assembly lines in Luton and Ellesmere Port, as well as the Opel factory in Antwerp, Belgium, would be among those shut down, along with Fiat factories in Pomigliano, near Naples, and in Termini Imerese, Sicily. Three Opel plants producing gearboxes - Bochum, Kaiserslautern and Ruesselsheim, Germany - would also be partially shut down.

The article referred to an internal Fiat strategy plan dated 3 April.

Fiat said the information in the article was not generated by Fiat and did not form part of any plan prepared by Fiat.

Fiat is trying to win support for its plan to take over General Motors' European business, which includes Vauxhall and Opel.

Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne met German officials on Monday to discuss an offer for Opel.

GM faces potential bankruptcy in the US and is under pressure to sell European interests such as Vauxhall and Opel as it attempts restructure its business.

Fiat also plans to take over some of Chrysler, the US carmaker that has applied for bankruptcy protection.

This article produced by Find a Part - Car Parts Search Specialists since 1978.